Stranger Things has officially come to an end following the premiere of the Season 5 finale earlier this week, and the Duffer Brothers are already answering questions about coming back to the world with the original cast.
What did the Duffer Brothers say about a potential spin-off starring the main cast?
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter following the airing of the series finale on Netflix, the Duffers were asked about many of the potential spin-offs the streamer has planned for the show.
Following the show’s finale, which sees Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven’s fate being left mostly ambiguous, the pair were asked if they’d ever like to “check in” with the original cast. Specifically, a potential 10-year revisit of the original group in the form of another show was brought up. Co-creator Matt Duffer said to him, the door has been closed on their story, but anything more would need to be very interesting to visit.
“We really don’t know. I mean, Mike’s closing the basement door,” said Duffer. “We’re closing the door on the story. That’s one reason we had the closing credits the way that we did, because it was a way of saying: This is finite. This is the end of their story. It’s the end of the story of Mike and Eleven and Joyce and Hopper. So, no, there’s no plan or intention to tell the story because it’s a coming-of age story.”
Duffer went on to explain that the end of the series, which finishes with Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and his friend group leaving the basement after one final session of Dungeons & Dragons, was always meant to show the friend group moving on from childhood and into adulthood. He also noted that any potential reunion featuring the original group would most likely just feel like a “cash grab.”
“Ultimately, that’s what it’s supposed to be. That’s what the show always was. When he closes the door to the basement, he’s closing the door on his childhood and he’s moving onto adulthood,” Duffer said. “I mean, I guess a sequel could be about a midlife crisis. That just sounds really uninteresting! (Laughs.) Grandpa Hopper? I don’t know how that would read as anything but a gross cash grab to me. I wish I could talk a little bit more about the spinoff, but I’m not allowed to yet.
“But Ross and I are really excited about exploring new characters and a new mythology, but still very much are interested in telling a story in the spirit of Stranger Things. It feels like with this final season, we finished saying everything we wanted to say about these characters, this story and the Upside Down.”
While the main Stranger Things series is over, the franchise will continue. The Duffer Brothers are already working on a spin-off project to the series, which they will executive produce for Netflix. An animated prequel series, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, is also set to release this year.