Stranger Things’ Duffer Brothers React to Show Return Amid Rumors

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The Party’s Dungeons & Dragons books are staying on the shelf for now. 

Following speculation that the eighth episode of Stranger Things season five wasn’t the true finale, creators Ross and Matt Duffer clarified whether the Netflix show might come back for more.

Ross recently told Entertainment Tonight that he believes this season definitively ends the story of Hawkins, the Upside Down, and all the characters involved.

Just because the show is moving forward doesn’t mean we won’t see the original characters – like Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) – again sometime in the future.

As Ross quipped, “I guess never say never.” 

The director said that perhaps in 20 years, if they’re all facing financial hardship and have discussed it, this idea could become a fallback plan – something he and Matt see as a safety net.

Although fans are sad to see the story end, the actors involved understand and support the Duffer Brothers’ choice to move on from the world of Stranger Things.

Finn suggested he might be open to returning for future episodes if the story allowed for the characters to be at different points in their lives. However, he also believes the show ended at the right time, feeling it had naturally reached its conclusion, as he told Entertainment Tonight.

Netflix also dismissed the idea—a fan theory called “Conformity Gate”—that a ninth episode would unexpectedly drop on January 7th.

As rumors suggested, the official Stranger Things social media accounts were updated on January 7th with a new bio stating, “ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING.”

While the main story of Stranger Things may be ending, the world isn’t completely closed off. Besides a behind-the-scenes documentary called One Last Adventure coming to Netflix on January 12th, the creators, the Duffer Brothers, have mentioned two other projects in development. One of these is a live-action spin-off series that will delve into the backstory of Henry Creel and what happened to him in the cave.

In a recent interview with Variety, Matt explained that the new spinoff series will explore and clarify previously confusing elements, but will ultimately present a distinct and separate set of stories and lore.

He explained that while it’s a new development, it should help resolve some outstanding issues.

For more Stranger Things facts that will turn your world upside down, keep reading. 

Before creating Stranger Things, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer worked on M. Night Shyamalan’s TV series Wayward Pines. Their initial idea for the show was actually called Montauk.

According to Matt, it’s incredibly difficult to convince people to accept a different title once you’ve become attached to one. He explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that when they first proposed Stranger Things, it was a challenge to get others on board.

The creators of the show originally planned to film on Long Island, but it turned out to be too difficult to do so.

Matt told The Hollywood Reporter they chose Montauk as a filming location because of its beautiful seaside atmosphere. He also noted that Montauk served as the inspiration for the town in his favorite movie, Jaws, and he thought that connection was ‘really cool.’ However, they realized it would be too difficult and costly to film on Long Island during the winter, and the conditions would have been unpleasant.

Atlanta ultimately became the home base for production.

Before Netflix decided to air the show, nearly 20 other networks rejected it, as reported by Vulture. Executives at those networks worried viewers wouldn’t connect with a series featuring four child actors.

4. To play Eleven, then 12-year-old Millie Bobby Brown had to say goodbye to her hair.

In 2018, at PaleyFest, the actress described shaving her head as the most liberating experience of her life. She explained that letting go of her hair felt like revealing her true self, as she could no longer hide behind it. Looking in the mirror, she felt a responsibility to inspire others, realizing that beauty isn’t dependent on having hair.

She found inspiration for her role in both Charlize Theron’s performance in Mad Max: Fury Road and old yearbook pictures of her fellow actress, Winona Ryder.

She mentioned that Winona Ryder’s short, pixie cut was a great look in the past, and it inspired her to try the style herself.

The British actress shared that she used a surprising source to nail her American accent: Miley Cyrus’s show, Hannah Montana. She told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that the show was “so good,” and that “everything about it is amazing,” helping her perfect the accent.

The Duffer brothers used scenes from the movie Stand By Me when auditioning young actors to find the four main child stars for their show.

The brothers initially had a specific vision for the character of Mike. However, that changed after Finn Wolfhard’s audition.

Matt explained to The Daily Beast in 2016 that Mike initially reminded him of the character Mikey from The Goonies. However, Finn Wolfhard, who played Mike, brought a nervous and energetic quality to the role. The writers then tailored the character to fit Finn’s personality and energy.

Gaten Matarazzo, who played Dustin, also had a big impact on the show’s development. According to Matt, they initially envisioned Dustin as a typical nerd, but after meeting Gaten, they rewrote the character to better suit his talents and personality.

After the show gained popularity, Kellogg’s noticed a big jump in Eggo waffle sales, likely because of Eleven’s love for them. Sales increased by 14% in late 2017, following the release of season two, and October saw the most social media buzz about Eggo waffles ever.

In early 2018, David Harbour became an internet sensation when he agreed to take a fan’s senior portraits. It started when the fan tweeted asking him to do her photoshoot in exchange for 25,000 retweets. Harbour responded that he’d participate – and even wear the school sweatshirt and hold a trombone! True to his promise, he followed through and took the photos.

He jokingly predicted on Instagram that, 24 years later, he’d be crashing someone else’s high school senior photos.

Later that year, Harbour playfully offered to officiate a fan’s wedding if she could get 125,000 retweets and promised him the first piece of cake. He became legally ordained and ended up performing the ceremony while dressed as his character, Chief Hopper.

As a huge fan, I always loved the theories about Eleven potentially being Hopper’s biological daughter! While that wasn’t the case, their father-daughter bond was so beautifully developed. And honestly, it almost broke my heart – in the best way – when I noticed Eleven wearing that little blue braided bracelet at the school dance. It was the same one Hopper always wore, made from a ribbon belonging to his daughter, and it was such a touching detail! It really highlighted how much he loved and cared for her as if she were his own.

Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, had never kissed anyone before filming the first season of the show. She described her first kiss with Mike as ‘a strange experience,’ especially with the entire cast and crew watching. She said having around 250 people present made it feel overwhelming.

She shared what her co-star secretly told her right before they had to kiss for a second time on the show.

She recounted an awkward encounter on The Tonight Show in 2017, explaining that he warned her he was about to kiss her in a very strange way. ‘He basically said, ‘I’m coming in for a kiss,’ but he did it like a ventriloquist – it was so bizarre!’

Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, who star as a couple on the show, started dating in 2016 and have generally kept their romance out of the public eye.

Okay, so Natalia told Refinery29 something that totally gets me. She’s super private about her personal life – family, friends, everything! She really likes to keep those things just for her, which I get, honestly. But then she admitted working with someone you’re also, like, going home with is…amazing! She said it’s always really fun, and I’m living for that! It’s just…a whole vibe, you know?

Surprisingly, Joe Keery’s popular character, Steve Harrington, was originally intended to die at the end of the first season.

Ross explained to The Hollywood Reporter that they quickly grew fond of Joe Keery, who played Steve, during the first season. This is why they developed a storyline where Steve teams up with Jonathan and Nancy to help save the day. Originally, Steve was intended to be a stereotypical, unpleasant athlete, but Keery brought so much more to the role.

18. Also slated to perish was Eleven. Yes, really. 

In the book Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down, Ross Duffer explained that the original plan was for Eleven to sacrifice herself to save everyone. However, when they started considering more than one season of the show, they had to change that. They realized the show wouldn’t work without Eleven, and they knew Millie Bobby Brown was a special talent. If Stranger Things continued, Eleven needed to survive.

The seventh episode of the second season, called “The Lost Sister,” nearly didn’t make it onto screens. The Duffer brothers told Vulture they worried the episode—which focuses on Eleven’s search for another child with similar experiences—would disrupt the flow of the story.

Matt explained that as they started writing the episode, they questioned whether it was even necessary. They seriously considered cutting it entirely, but the planned ending involving Eleven didn’t work without it. Ultimately, they decided the episode was essential to the story.

20. Eleven’s sibling was written to be a boy, with the episode originally titled “The Lost Brother.” 

Once the audition was open to all young actresses, Linnea Berthelsen won the role. The resulting episode showed Eleven meeting her “sister,” Kali. According to Matt, Linnea and Millie (who plays Eleven) connected really well, and Millie specifically requested to work with Linnea.

Nicola Coughlan, known for her role in Bridgerton, originally tried out for the part of Robin. However, she later landed the role of Penelope Featherington. Maya Hawke ended up getting the role of Robin, and Nicola has said Hawke was much more suited for it than she would have been.

She explained that auditioning teaches a valuable lesson for actors: pay attention to the roles you don’t land. It helps you realize it’s not about you personally – you simply aren’t the best fit for every part, and that’s okay.

Before becoming known for her role as Sarah on the Netflix series Outer Banks, Madelyn Cline played the character Tina, a popular but unkind student, in the second season of the show.

To land the role of Billy, the rebellious older stepbrother of Max (played by Sadie Sink), Australian actor Dacre Montgomery created a memorable audition tape. He told GQ he aimed to impress the Duffer brothers with a bold and playful performance.

Dacre took a big gamble by filming himself dancing in a G-string to 80s hits like “Come on Eileen” and “Hungry Like the Wolf.” He worried about the video, thinking it would either ruin his career or finally get him noticed. Luckily, the risk paid off, and someone recognized his talent.

As the show entered its third season, Deadline reported significant pay raises for the cast. The younger actors saw their per-episode salaries jump from around $30,000 to over $200,000, and potentially as high as $250,000. Winona Ryder and David Harbour were earning approximately $300,000 to $350,000 per episode, while Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton were making between $100,000 and $150,000.

Priah Ferguson was originally scheduled for just one episode in season two as Erica, Lucas’s feisty younger sister. However, the Duffer brothers were so impressed with her performance that they continued to include her, eventually making her a main cast member in the next season.

Because the young actors were still growing during filming, the costume designers had a hard time making sure their clothes fit consistently throughout the series.

It was a real challenge keeping up with how fast the kids were growing,” costume designer Kim Wilcox explained to TopMob News. “One child, in particular, would outgrow his shoes every three weeks, needing a half size bigger! To solve this, we sourced shoes from brands that offered the same style in a wide range of sizes. We’d buy five pairs of each size, so we always had something available when a child had a growth spurt.

The Duffer brothers were inspired by classic movies like The Goonies, E.T., and Stand By Me, but they made sure their references weren’t too obvious.

When we presented the project to Netflix, we created a roughly two-and-a-half-minute trailer that combined clips from about 20 to 30 different movies. The goal was to give a sense of the story and feel of Stranger Things, but those were just ideas we had in mind at the time, as Matt explained to The Daily Beast. Those films were a big influence on us growing up and are deeply ingrained in what we love. However, when we were actually writing the episodes, we didn’t spend much time talking about other movies. We mostly focused on telling the story and letting the characters drive the plot. Otherwise, it would have felt disjointed and confusing.

The team initially aimed for a vintage look by minimizing special effects, but they soon discovered that was more challenging than expected.

Initially, we wanted to rely entirely on practical effects, but we quickly learned how challenging that is—we have a lot of respect for the teams who created films like The Thing and Alien. Practical effects take a huge amount of time and planning. We were developing scripts rapidly, but didn’t have the months needed to properly prepare everything. When we got to set, some of the ideas that sounded good in theory just weren’t feasible given our time constraints.

The creators, the Duffer brothers, originally planned for ‘Stranger Things’ to last five seasons. According to Netflix executive Matthew Thunell, many of their ideas from 2015 are now coming to fruition as the series nears its conclusion. Each episode of season four reportedly cost around $30 million to produce, as noted by Variety magazine.

Although the creators of Stranger Things, the Duffer brothers, know how the show will eventually end, they aren’t finished exploring the story and the world of the Upside Down.

In an interview with Variety, the creators revealed they have a spin-off idea they’re really enthusiastic about, but it’s still in the very early stages – they haven’t even shared the concept yet. While they’ve been trying to keep it under wraps, Matt and Ross confessed that Finn had already correctly guessed what the series would be about, describing it as “very, very different.” They emphasized that Finn is the only one who knows the premise so far.

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2026-01-08 05:49