Stranger Things Creators Mock Possible Netflix Spinoffs

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer talked about moving the franchise after season 5 and joked that they had ideas for possible spinoffs.

Stranger Things creators Ross and Matt Duffer joked that their popular Netflix series could get spinoffs. Stranger Things premiered in 2016 and introduced the audience to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), with supernatural powers and a connection to an alternative dimension called Upside Down. The last three episodes of the film have been extremely successful for Netflix, with the fourth being split into two episodes, which will be released on May 27 and July 1, 2022.

In the final episode of the 3rd season of Stranger Things, a group of friends split up after Eleven lost to him after the battle at Starcourt Mall. The latest episode shows that Eleven, who joined the Byers and Hopper family, was assassinated after sacrificing himself to destroy the Russian gate upside down. Trailers for Season 4 of Stranger Things revealed Hopper's life but also raised many questions as fans waited for the episode's first party. Season 4 is already a high season, with each episode lasting more than an hour, but the creators have previously stated that Season 5 of Stranger Things is over.

Here's what Matt and Ross Duffer said

Matt Duffer: We haven’t told anyone our plans! Not even Netflix! 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 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…

As the franchise has expanded over the past six years, there are many ways in which Netflix can acquire Stranger Things spinoffs. Trailers for Stranger Things Season 4 report that Upside Down has influenced the human world since the 1950s, with Creel House murders apparently at the heart of the story. Since it took about 30 years before the events of Stranger Things Season 1, there was plenty of room for further expansion of the franchise without overlapping the current show. This may be a better way to give an already established character a spin-off. 

If Stranger Things' 5th season ends at a high level, it could be a mistake to get through the character's story without the other cast members. With Stranger Things, one of Netflix's most popular franchises, it's probably a spin-off. Netflix has many other valuable IPs, but the streamer is probably already thinking about how they will continue in Stranger Things season 5. 

As such, it will take some time before the Stranger Things spinoff sees the light of day, although Duffer Bros. has ideas. They are unmistakably focused on staying on the landing of the last two seasons of the show, because if the finals are not well received, the spin-off could be canceled, no matter how good the idea is.