Stranger Things creators Ross and Matt Duffer are teasing that their popular Netflix series could get spinoffs. Stranger Things premiered in 2016, introducing audiences to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), who has supernatural powers and a connection to an alternate dimension called the Upside Down. The past three seasons of the show have been incredibly successful for Netflix, with the fourth being split into two parts, coming out May 27 and July 1, 2022.
In season 3's finale, the group of friends is separated after Eleven loses her following the battle at the Starcourt Mall. The last episode shows Eleven moving away with the Byers family and Hopper supposedly being killed after sacrificing himself to destroy the Russian Gate to the Upside Down. Stranger Things season 4's trailers reveal Hopper is alive but also created many more questions as fans await the first batch of episodes. Season 4 will be the longest season yet, with each episode being over an hour, but the creators previously stated Stranger Things season 5 will be the last.
The news of the Duffer Bros having the show's end in sight was no doubt disappointing for many, but it looks like the franchise may be continuing. During an interview with SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar), Stranger Things' creators revealed they are open to a continuation or spinoff of the franchise, but it needs to be an idea they are truly excited about. Ross Duffer elaborated that they don't want to just do something they've done before and said while they will be "heavily involved" if a spinoff happens, somebody else would be hired to run the "day-to-day basis" of a future project.
Matt Duffer: We haven’t told anyone our plans! Not even Netflix! We have some ideas. In 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 Duffer: 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…
With how much the franchise has expanded in the past six years, there are plenty of avenues Netflix could take for Stranger Things spinoffs. Trailers for Stranger Things season 4 hint that the Upside Down has been affecting the human world since the '50s, with the murders at the Creel House seeming to be a main storyline. Since that takes place around 30 years before the events of Stranger Things season 1, there is ample space to further expand the franchise without overlapping with the current show. This may be a better route to take over giving an already established character a spinoff. Should Stranger Things season 5 end on a high note, it could be a mistake to continue one character's storyline without the other cast .
With Stranger Things being one of Netflix's most popular franchises, a spinoff seems rather likely. Netflix has plenty of other valuable IPs, but the streamer is probably already thinking about how they can continue after Stranger Things season 5 ends. That being said, it will be a while before a Stranger Things spinoff sees the light of day, even though the Duffer Bros already have ideas. They are no doubt focused on sticking the landing for the show's final two seasons because should the ending not be well-received, a spinoff could be scrapped no matter how good the idea is.
Source: SFX Magazine (via GamesRadar)