Stranger Thingsseason 5 will be the show’s last - and it sounds like it’ll be the craziest, as well. The writers of the show indicated as much with their unusual description of the final season.
Stranger Thingsseason 4 left off on a bittersweet note - the long-awaited reunions between the show’s main characters and Max’s return to life were dampened by the last-minute revelation that Vecna had not been stopped and The Upside Down was beginning to overtake Hawkins. While Hawkins has had misfortune looming over it since the first season, the circumstances have never felt so dire. As they head into the final season, the characters will have to prepare to fight for the very existence of their town.
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In a Twitter post, theStranger Thingswriters offered an ominous hint at what’s in store. “Season 5 is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids,” they wrote. While there are many ways that comment can be taken, they may be referring to the emotional impact of season 1 being combined with the stakes and danger of season 4. Separately, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have talked about what fans can expect for the fifth season.
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporterin November 2022, they said, “We do have quite a bit more to get in. But just as important as the supernatural, we have so many characters now — most of whom are still living — and it’s important to wrap up those arcs. A lot of these characters have been growing since season one so it’s a balancing act between giving them time to complete their character arcs and also tying up loose ends and doing our final reveals.” Mark Duffer added thatjust the pitch forStranger Thingsseason 5garnered an emotional response. “We did get our executives to cry, which I felt was a good sign that these executives were crying. The only other times I’ve seen them cry were like budget meetings.”
While this may be the last season ofStranger Things,it seems that the Duffer brothers are far from finished with the world they created. Aspin-off calledStranger Things: Tokyo,which takes place in Japan in the 1980s, is reportedly in the works. Rather than being live-action like the original series, the show will be an anime, another addition to Netflix’s growing catalog of original animes. No plot details have been announced for this spin-off, and the release date is still a mystery. With talk of at least one spin-off in the future, it’s difficult to keep from wondering ifStranger Thingsseason 5 will set the stage for content to come. Perhaps Vecna will be stopped in Hawkins but will escape to another part of the Upside Down to wreak havoc elsewhere. Or, maybe this season will introduce a new antagonist to look out for in future spin-offs.
This strategy has certainly worked for the MCU, which has been making use of cameos and post-credits scenes to lay the groundwork for future projectssinceIron Manwas releasedin 2008 and launched what would later be known as Phase 1 of the MCU. AlthoughStranger Thingsmay not reach the same scope as the MCU, it could be a smart decision to take inspiration from the storytelling devices that have worked so well for Marvel Studios over the last several years.
