Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer shared a small update with Deadline on their spinoff idea that has been brewing since Season 4 of the supernatural show came out in the summer of 2022.
The identical twin brothers divulged what details they could about the project, which is officially in the works at Netflix, clarifying what it could be about.
“We are moving forward with it. Netflix, they finally know what it is. We held it. They were so frustrated,” Matt said. “We just would not tell them. Finn [Wolfhard] guessed what it was. So he was the only one who knew.”
Ross pointed out that Wolfhard’s idea of the spinoff may have drifted from when he first guessed it.
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“I think he might have forgotten, though, honestly, because last time he brought it up, I was like, ‘That’s not what it is,’” Ross said. “Maybe he was just being coy. I don’t know.”
In August, Wolfhard told Variety that he speculated the show would be like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks but with an anthology twist and a similar universe setting tied together with The Upside Down mythology. He suggested that there could be a lab in Russia where the spin-off is centered without any mention of Hawkins or the original Stranger Things characters.
“No, that’s the funny thing, because everyone freaked out that he had revealed what the spin off was,” Matt chimed in. “I think he forgot. I actually need to talk to him about it, but anyway, now everybody at Netflix knows. They’re very excited behind it there. I’m really excited about the team we’ve assembled that I can’t talk about without potentially getting into trouble, but we’ll put out more information soon. We’re trying to get it to go pretty quickly. So hopefully it’s gonna happen soon.”
In October, the directing duo told Variety they will start with “a clean slate” and “new characters” to avoid complicating the already complex mythology in Stranger Things.
“The spinoff idea is something that Ross and I came up with that we’re extremely excited about. It’s quite different, though, than Stranger Things. So I think the key is that it’s coming from a place of passion, whether it’s from us or from somebody else. It’s not an assignment. It’s not forced like that. You’ve just seen that too many times,” Matt added in their conversation with Deadline. “The market, it’s diminishing returns at a certain point. You want it to feel special when it comes out. I want, if something’s coming out with a Stranger Things title on it, it’s good, it’s quality. So Ross and I are going to remain very, very involved, even though we’re going to be at Paramount. In fact, we’re busy working on the spin off idea right now.”
The twins remain proud that the Netflix tentpole series, which is chock-full of references to other films that influenced them growing up, is original IP at the end of the day.
“We’re not super subtle about what our influences are, but at the end of the day, at a certain point, we weren’t thinking about those stories at all. The story of Hawkins and these characters were defining this, and it is, though inspired by what came before it, original IP,” Matt said. “I wish more people and studios were getting behind that. They mine IP that means absolutely nothing. So why not just take inspiration from what came before you and look at what worked and try to bring that into the marketplace?”
Like with the spinoff, both brothers plan to remain very involved in any potential offshoot of the show, should it become a franchise, universe or other expansive property.
“We want to be intentional and very careful in terms of how we expand, in that we’re not doing anything for the sake of doing it, for the sake of putting more Stranger Things out into the world. It has to be something that we’re extremely excited about. The cartoon was something that we brought to Netflix because we grew up watching The Real Ghostbusters and the Beetlejuice cartoon,” Matt said, referencing the upcoming animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. “So we liked the idea of taking this and turning into an animated form. It’s also nice because the kids can remain kids forever. So we thought that was cool to capture that sort of Saturday morning cartoon feel. The play [Stranger Things: The First Shadow] came from Steven Daldry.”
In August, the Duffers struck a 4-year deal with Paramount for feature films, television and streaming projects. The Chapman University alumni will begin working with Paramount — reuniting with Cindy Holland, who shepherded Stranger Things into creation at Netflix alongside Matt Thunell (who is also now at Paramount after the Skydance merger) — after their current deal with Netflix ends in April 2026.
“We grew up going to movies every week as kids, and it was such a big part of our lives. We love the idea of a communal experience. Theaters are still coming back post-pandemic, but we just wanted to try to be part of the part of that solution and fight the good fight,” Ross said. “I think the experience of going to a great movie and seeing it with a crowd. Nothing really beats it. So it’s really a dream come true to do that with our next project.”
The brothers, executive producing through their Upside Down Pictures shingle, still have The Boroughs, starring Geena Davis, Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman, Clarke Peters and Denis O’Hare and Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen starring Camila Morrone and Adam DiMarco coming up at Netflix. They’ve previously hinted that The Boroughs slightly echoes certain elements of Stranger Things.
Added Ross: “We’ll shake it up a little bit. But I do think, like Matt’s saying, there’s a style of storytelling that’s really in the DNA of Stranger Things, and I think that that will probably continue to whatever we do next.”
That being said, as they move forward with new projects and head to Paramount, the brothers made clear that they will leave the ’80s behind for a while.
“Whatever we do next, I’ll tell you this, it’s not going to be set in the ’80s. I think we’re done with the ’80s,” Ross said, with Matt jokingly adding, “Kids on bikes. Probably done with that.”
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