Stranger Things star predicted the show's ending, and spin-off, on TV years before the finale
Spoiler warning much?
Stranger Things is over. Sort of. The last feature-length episode of season five was released in the small hours of January 1st in the UK. But one of the stars actually revealed — or at least predicted — the ending years ago.
OK, so as we can still count the hours since the Stranger Things finale was released, we are not going to give too much away here. But for those who have already checked out the last ep, here’s your breadcrumb trail.
Back in 2023, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard was interviewed on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show. It was in support of his co-directorial debut movie, Hell of a Summer.
But, of course, Fallon and the rest of us were more interested in Stranger Things than that film at that point. In 2023 we were in the wide gulf between season four and the final season of the show, hungry for more.
As part of the interview, Wolfhard didn’t just predict elements of the actual end of the show, he also explained a pitch for a spin-off that, heck, could even still happen. “That is the idea,” the Duffer brothers told Wolfhard when he explained his idea of how Stranger Things could wrap up while leaving room for more from the wider series.
You can watch the interview below, although you might want to watch the last Stranger Things episode, the feature-length The Rightside Up, before doing so. You’ve been warned:
While talk of a live action spin-off of Stranger Things has circulated pretty much since we heard season 5 would finish up the show in 2022, it’s not the next piece of Stranger Things content we’ll get.
An animated show, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is due out later this year. It’s set between seasons two and three, and while the Duffer brothers are involved, Eric Robles is the series show runner. He has previously worked on Glitch Techs and Fanboy & Chum Chum.
The wider future of the Stranger Things franchise is currently looking a whole lot more precarious, though. Back in August we heard the Duffer brothers had signed a four-year contract with Paramount, to produce TV, streaming and movie content.
Their deal with Netflix ends in April 2026, but the brothers have said they will continue to work on not just Stranger Things projects, but the already-announced Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen and The Boroughs shows too. Both are slated to come to Netflix in 2026.
“We’re excited to continue collaborating – not only on the upcoming release of Stranger Things 5, but also on shows we’re deeply proud to be producing, including Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen and The Boroughs. And we look forward to building out the future of Stranger Things together,” the Duffer brothers said in a statement.
We'll be back with more news of this future spin-off and the upcoming Stranger Things: Tales from '85 as it appears.
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