After a decade working on Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers have plenty of great memories, but also some not-so-good ones. In a recent interview with SFX magazine, the creative pair revealed something they won't be missing now that the popular Netflix show is coming to an end.
"If I ever have to look at another spore visual effects shot again… I won't miss that about the show. I won't miss evaluating spore shots, 'That spore across Mike's face, get it out of his eye.' It's endless," said Ross Duffer.
"It was fun to write the Upside Down, but it wasn't fun on a production level," added his brother, Matt Duffer. "When you're shooting the Upside Down, you're shooting at night. We shot everything outside and the trees can't have leaves on them, so you're usually out at night and in the freezing cold. I think [director of episodes three and five] Frank Darabont got the worst of it."
Darabont, best known for directing some of the best Stephen King adaptations like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, came out of his 11-year retirement to direct two episodes of the fifth and final season of the show. "I'm very excited that Frank Darabont, one of our filmmaking heroes, came on because he was retired, and somehow we enticed him out of retirement the night he directed," recalled Matt.
Darabont is not a fan of night shoots, but, somehow, the Duffer brothers ended up giving him the most Upside Down scenes out of all the directors. "We tricked him a little bit. Hopefully we weren't too misleading," said Ross, with Matt adding: "He got a little screwed. Hopefully we didn't drive him back into retirement."
Stranger Things season 5 is arriving this holiday season in three parts, carrying us through from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Volume 1 lands on Netflix on November 26, with Volume 2 on December 25, and the finale on December 31.
While you wait, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best Netflix shows streaming now, or see our guide to what's new on Netflix this November 2025.
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