Could Stranger Things get a spinoff? Conversations are “not nonexistent”

Netflix’s Stranger Things became an instant phenomenon when it premiered back in 2016, and it’s since gone on to expand its story and its lore — something it will continue to do when Stranger Things 4 finally arrives next year.

Series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have been vocal about having big plans for this universe. “Season four won’t be the end,” Ross Duffer explained to The Hollywood Reporter last year. “We know what the end is, and we know when it is. [The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story.”

In fact, the producers’ vision for this universe may be too big for one show…

Stranger Things spinoff conversations “not nonexistent”

Speaking with Collider, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy revealed that the team had talked about spinoffs, although nothing’s official yet:

"What’s been made clear is there is an interest and a real voracious appetite for any offshoot, any other iteration format or extension of the franchise, the characters, the mythology. Certainly those conversations are hardly evolved, but they’re also not non-existent, boy did I dance around that one. And you cannot take those words and turn it into a headline, that’s like Stranger Things, executive producer, Shawn Levy confirmed spinoff because I didn’t do that."

Levy didn’t get more specific than that, but it’s easy to envision where Netflix could take offshoots of the original show. For one, the Upside Down remains one of Stranger Things’ biggest mysteries, and the series still hasn’t fully explored how it came to be or what’s really happening there.

Stranger Things 4 will be bigger, darker, and worth the wait

There are so many places the Duffers can take this franchise, but in the meantime, fans have the rest of the original story to look forward to. Stranger Things 4 arrives in 2022, and it promises to be the Netflix series’ wildest season yet. “I’ll just say that we are long-delayed, and (show creators, the Duffer brothers) and I want to share Season 4 with the world as badly as the world wants it,” Levy told THR. “Part of what’s taking time is, long before Covid and the pandemic existed, Season 4 was built to be by far the most ambitious, cinematic, sprawling and epic season that we’ve ever done. By not just a little. By a lot.”

All told, Levy promises that season 4 will be “super worth the wait.” Star Natalia Dyer (Nancy) also talked up the new season in an interview with W Magazine. “It’s bigger, it’s darker, and it’s gonna be great,” she said. “I say this every season, but I really am excited. I think the cast and crew are, too—we’re all amazed that despite everything, we were able to keep working. And I will say, I’ve really come to admire the ‘kids’ on our show. They’re not kids anymore.”

"[T]here have been bigger and crazier things happening in every season since the first. I’m partially so excited about this one because the way we shot it feels so different, so stretched out, you know? There’s stuff we filmed a year and a half ago, which is kind of crazy to still be working on it—like, What did we shoot? That was so long ago. I’m really curious to see it, though it’ll be a while. We don’t know when, but of course you edit after you wrap, so it’ll be a minute."

We’ll get more information about Stranger Things, as well as several other shows and movies, at Netflix’s Tudum event:

Tudum (it’s the sound you hear when you log into Netflix, geddit?) goes down on September 25.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels