Stranger Things Spin-Off Won’t Have Anything To Do With Series
Stranger Things has become a massive hit, and now there is going to be a spin-off, however, the Duffer Brothers have announced the spin-off will be vastly different.
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Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of the pop culture phenomenon Stranger Things, are finally dropping hints as to what’s next for the franchise. According to a report by Variety, the Duffer Brothers recently discussed the direction of the show in season 5, and the recently-announced Stranger Things spin-off that is coming afterward. In what might be a shock to fans of the hit Netflix show, the new spin-off won’t have any connection to the characters and plot they’ve loved for four seasons. Instead, the new show will be “1000% different” from what they see now, with only a “storytelling sensibility” connecting the two shows.
“It’s not following (the current characters),” the Duffer Brothers made clear, shooting down any speculation that there would be a Stranger Things spin-off focused just on Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) or even the fan-favorite dynamic duo of Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo). “That’s not interesting to me because we’ve done all that. We’ve spent I don’t know how many hours exploring all of that. So it’s very different.” The Duffer Brothers made the revelation on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, hosted by Josh Horowitz, which features interviews with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
The Duffer Brothers revealed that details of the Stranger Things spin-off are being closely guarded, and not even Netflix is aware of their plans. They will only say that they are “really jazzed” by the idea they have for the new series. They are also hopeful to find “lightning in a bottle” once again, with a lead that wins over audiences the way Millie Bobby Brown did. “Hopefully we find that right person to pass the baton to while we go on to do new stuff,” they said.
Their comments sound a lot like the “universe-building” concept so many movie and TV franchises take these days, with a bit of a twist. Unlike Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or even The Walking Dead, the Stranger Things spin-off won’t rely on crossovers and familiarity to bring in viewers. Instead, the aforementioned “storytelling sensibility” will be the common thread, connecting the two with tone and narrative worldview. It’s an approach that JJ Abrams and his production company Bad Robot took with their Cloverfield franchise. To follow up their 2008 found-footage film about a monster that attacks New York City, 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane was a claustrophobic psychological thriller, with only the slightest hint of a connection to the original film. 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox went parallel universe-jumping around the monster attack in the first film, but the straight-to-Netflix movie was so bad, that it killed the franchise.
Although not completely successful, the Cloverfield approach does provide a roadmap (and a warning) for the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things spin-off. Fans want to see more of the sci-fi/horror plots the show offered, yet grounded in the familiar, nostalgia-heavy setting and relatable characters. Over the last four seasons, Stranger Things has successfully integrated new characters with the original cast, making them indispensable. There’s no reason to think a new series, with all-new characters, couldn’t successfully win over an audience, just as Eleven and the Party did in 2016.
The final two episodes of Stranger Things season four just dropped on Netflix on July 1, with a storyline that will take viewers directly into season five. David Harbour recently told GQ Magazine that season five will likely film next year, with a release date in 2024. Those dates, however, have not been officially confirmed.
