{"id":103072,"date":"2025-11-13T02:51:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103072"},"modified":"2025-11-13T02:51:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:51:00","slug":"theres-a-bit-of-anxiety-stranger-things-creators-on-spin-off-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103072","title":{"rendered":"\u2018There\u2019s a bit of anxiety\u2019: Stranger Things creators on spin-off plans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 34 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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After five seasons, Stranger Things is coming to an end \u2013 but another portal is already opening as the creators behind the show, twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, tell the BBC a spin-off series is already in development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s early days, but we\u2019re excited about it,\u201d says Matt Duffer. \u201cIt\u2019s new characters and a new mystery, so it\u2019s different, but it will be in the same world as Stranger Things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair feel that there is more to explore, but Matt\u2019s twin brother Ross explains they always saw the original story as a self-contained arc, and it\u2019s definitely \u201cthe end for these characters\u201d.<\/p>\n

The clarity around the ending had always been part of the plan, and Matt says the final scene \u201cwas the one thing we had planned from the start\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always knew what we were working towards, so it was like our north star and we built the whole season around the final scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Season five is set in the autumn of 1987. Hawkins, Indiana, is scarred by the opening of the Rifts and the group of friends must find and kill Vecna. At the same time, the town is under military quarantine as the hunt for Eleven intensifies.<\/p>\n

The brothers, who were in their early thirties when the show began, had always planned for four or five seasons, but say it still feels surreal that they managed to get that far.<\/p>\n

Matt and Ross Duffer say they took inspiration from the likes of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King when creating Stranger Things<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What started as a nostalgic horror about a missing boy in a sleepy town quickly grew into one of Netflix\u2019s biggest global hits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re making the show, you\u2019re so entrenched in it that you forget how far it\u2019s come, and every season we put everything we have into it,\u201d Ross says. \u201cAnd when we made season one, we didn\u2019t even know if we\u2019d get a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a feeling the cast shared. Joe Keery, whose character Steve Harrington goes from a high school jock to a heroic mentor-like figure, tells the BBC he remembers saying goodbye to everyone after season one and not being sure if he would see them again.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeason one felt like an indie film and now it\u2019s this crazy big-budget movie,\u201d the 33-year-old says in disbelief.<\/p>\n

By the time the final season wrapped, after a year of filming, \u201cit felt like we\u2019d been working on it forever\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we had a great time making it and the friendships we made aren\u2019t going anywhere. We will still be in each other\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalia Dyer, who plays Nancy Wheeler, says the friendships they\u2019ve built off camera mirror those of their on-screen characters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese characters have this shared secret world they all know about and in real life, we have something similar as we\u2019re the only people who know the show inside-out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlie Heaton, who plays Natalia\u2019s on-screen boyfriend Jonathan Byers, agrees and explains that \u201cthe events in the show change these characters\u2019 lives forever, and similarly this show has changed our lives forever\u201d.<\/p>\n

There have been reports that not everything has been plain sailing.\u00a0The Mail on Sunday recently reported\u00a0that Millie Bobby Brown filed a harassment and bullying claim against her co-star David Harbour, but that hasn\u2019t been confirmed.<\/p>\n

However, the cast insist there\u2019s a close friendship between everyone, while the Duffer brothers say they felt an immense responsibility to protect the younger cast throughout filming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we cast them we didn\u2019t know the show was going to be what it was and you hear so many horror stories about young people that become famous as the spotlight can be harsh,\u201d Ross says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it helped that there were so many younger cast members so they weren\u2019t going through anything alone and could turn to each other during challenging times.\u201d<\/p>\n

That solidarity was a vital help for Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler and says growing up in the spotlight was a challenge \u201cbecause you\u2019re going through puberty and a life change like being part of Stranger Things at the same time\u201d.<\/p>\n

His on-screen, and perhaps also off-screen, best friends Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo agree, and the trio start laughing about how young they were when they first met.<\/p>\n

Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair must find and kill Vecna in season five<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I ask the young men how they feel about the show ending and stepping into new projects, and Gaten is first to admit they feel some trepidation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a bit shaky and there is a bit of anxiety, but I think that\u2019s the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old, who plays Dustin Henderson, says now feels like a good time to step into a period of unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour twenties are all about change, transition and growing, and we\u2019re incredibly lucky to be in a position to establish consistency in our careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see that as a real blessing and I look at it optimistically as I can because it is scary to not have the comfort of knowing there\u2019s another Stranger Things season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legacy of the show is undeniable \u2013 it\u2019s transformed a cast of newcomers into stars and spawned a global fanbase who have grown up alongside it.<\/p>\n

Caleb hopes that connection lasts and the show \u201clives on and becomes one of those things that people will rewatch and never get tired of, like a classic film\u201d.<\/p>\n

Knowing the impact of the show made saying goodbye even harder, and the final day of shooting is something Caleb won\u2019t forget for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was there and it bought us back to episode one \u2013 that feeling of home, being supported and loved, and everyone was on the same page in terms of their connection with the show,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Netflix has announced an animated follow-up, while details of the Duffer brothers\u2019 live-action spin-off are still under wraps.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the end of an era for the current cast. But would they reunite for another project?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur part of the Stranger Things story is done for now,\u201d Gaten says. \u201cBut if they called us in a while, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

The first four episodes of season five will be available in the US from 26 November, with the next three arriving on Christmas Day, and the finale on New Year\u2019s Eve. In the UK those releases will be a day later.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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