Stranger Things creators talk ending with season 5 – and tease spin-off potential

News
By Contributions from last updated

The Duffers on Stranger Things' endgame: It's "going to feel like it’s ending a little early"

The cast of Stranger Things
(Image credit: Netflix)

Stranger Things is coming to an end. After Stranger Things season 4 – which is split into two ‘Volumes’ – comes the Netflix show’s fifth (and final) season.

Speaking to SFX magazine for its blowout Stranger Things feature, creators Ross and Matt Duffer have been candid about the show’s endgame, its possible future spin-off plans – and why it might feel like Stranger Things is drawing to a close too soon.

"Even with five it’s going to feel like it’s ending a little early," Matt says. "We’re going to feel like we still have a lot more gas left in the tank. But I think that it’s better to end there with us wanting more. That’s why ending at five felt like the right move."

Yet, you get the impression there are plenty of stories left to tell in Hawkins, Indiana. If that’s the case, the Duffers aren’t letting on.

"We haven’t told anyone our plans! Not even Netflix!" Matt says. "We have some ideas. In terms of if we were to do any sort of a spin-off, or any continuation of Stranger Things, for us the bar was always, ‘Is the idea exciting enough that we feel the pull of wanting to do it again?’ I want to feel the pull of, ‘God, I really want to do this. I feel really, really excited about this.’ So that’s why we’re being careful about what that is and whether we move forward with it or not."

Ross teases, "The key for us is that it needs to feel like its own distinct thing, not that we’re just retreading what we’ve already done, because what would be the point of that? I do think we have something that could be pretty exciting. So we’ll see…" He adds that, though they would still be "heavily involved", they would need someone to run any possible spin-off on a "day-to-day basis." Any takers?

You can check out the full cover feature on Stranger Things, including interviews with the cast, in the current issue of SFX Magazine.

Stranger Things season 4 Volume 1 is set for release on May 27. Volume 2 debuts later this year on July 1. For more from SFX, make sure to sign up to the newsletter, sending all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.

Darren Scott

I'm the Editor of SFX, the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy and horror magazine – available digitally and in print every four weeks since 1995. I've been editing magazines, and writing for numerous publications since before the Time War. Obviously SFX is the best one. I knew being a geek would work out fine.

With contributions from