Duffer Brothers Began Filming Stranger Things Finale Without a Finished Script, Then Pointed Fingers at Netflix

The highly anticipated finale of Stranger Things didn’t have a finished script when filming began. The show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, revealed they actually started shooting scenes while still in the writing process.

A new documentary on Netflix reveals that the creators of Stranger Things, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, began filming the show’s final season before they had even finished writing the last episode.

As the stress increased, the brothers seemed to blame Netflix for rushing them to finish the project.

Of course Netflix was pushing… They were already filming.

The Finale Wasn’t Written — But the Cameras Were Rolling

A new Netflix documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, shows the creators, the Duffer brothers, admitting they started filming the final season, especially episode 8 – the series finale – before the script was fully finished.

During filming, Matt Duffer confessed they already knew how the story would end, explaining that the entire plot was planned out, but he was simply running out of time to write it all.

Just that single detail was surprising enough. However, the problem wasn’t simply about some incomplete work – it was much bigger than that.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, production on the show got so rushed that the crew was filming the last episode before the complete script was even finished.

A Scrambling Production

The documentary reveals the film crew struggling to keep up with production as filming went on. Even by day 117, the script for the final scene hadn’t been finished.

A production assistant jokingly revealed on camera that they were filming episode 8, even though the script wasn’t finished yet.

I was really surprised to hear Matt Duffer say they’re filming the final season without even having read the full script! He admitted they’re just going for it, which is honestly a little nerve-wracking, but also incredibly exciting to me as a fan.

He then adds: “This is so weird jumping to eight… Don’t love it. Don’t love it.”

This wasn’t a spontaneous idea; it was a project already underway. The cast and crew were hired, and a large budget was allocated, even though the story’s conclusion hadn’t been written yet.

Netflix Pressure — Or the Consequence of Bad Planning?

Later in the documentary, Matt Duffer frames the situation as one defined by outside pressure.

We were facing intense pressure from both the production team and Netflix regarding episode 8,” he explained. “It was the most challenging writing situation we’d ever experienced.

The key thing to understand is that Netflix didn’t start production with just a script; the Duffer brothers had already begun filming.

When production starts on a major show like Stranger Things, any delays are more than just annoying – they can be incredibly damaging. Everything from the filming schedule and actor contracts to the marketing plans and release date depends on having the scripts finished before cameras start rolling. This was especially critical for this season, which cost almost $500 million to make!

Netflix didn’t create that pressure.

The decision to film first and write later did.

Cast Left in the Dark for a Year

The chaos wasn’t limited to the writers’ room.

Actor Finn Wolfhard summed up the experience from the cast’s perspective.

“We had a year of being on the edge of our seats,” he said. “It was torture.”

Waiting a whole year to finish a major story arc isn’t a sign of artistic freedom—it’s a red flag. It suggests something went wrong during the creative process.

The script wasn’t fully finished until just days before the first table read on September 8, 2024.

Matt Duffer admitted that writing this particular episode took longer than any other they’d ever worked on.

The Stakes Couldn’t Have Been Higher

The episode, called “The Rightside Up,” is 2 hours and 8 minutes long and concludes the story with a final battle against Vecna, bringing the entire series to an end.

This wasn’t just any finale; it was the ending. It’s the conclusion Netflix will be known for, and the one fans will debate for years to come.

Interestingly, Netflix’s own documentary revealed that the script was still being developed even as filming was underway.

A Self-Inflicted Crisis, Not a Studio Conspiracy

The documentary also disproves the popular fan idea that Stranger Things had filmed extra episodes kept hidden. Instead, it reveals a more concerning reality: the creative team was struggling to complete the episodes they were already committed to making.

There’s no evidence here of Netflix sabotaging creativity or rushing a reluctant production.

As a movie lover, what really struck me from reading Entertainment Weekly‘s report wasn’t some huge scandal, but something far more basic and honestly, a little worrying. It seems like the film just started production before it was truly prepared.

Netflix raised concerns once filming was already underway – it’s typical for issues to arise during production, not beforehand. Pointing fingers at the platform doesn’t alter what happened, nor does it lessen the inherent risks involved.

Essentially, the ending of Stranger Things wasn’t the result of careful, pre-planned writing – it was rushed and created under pressure. Netflix’s own behind-the-scenes documentary confirms this.

2026-01-14 16:59