Stranger Things “would be ridiculous” if it had more than 5 seasons

Stranger Things will finally reach the end of the road with season 5. Since premiering in 2016, the nostalgic sci-fi show has become one of the brightest jewels in Netflix’s crown. It’s had a crazy good run, but all things must end. If it were to continue, the kids would become adults, and it would move into the 1990s, ceasing to be an ’80s pastiche.

Of course, after the show ends, the world of Stranger Things will continue to expand thanks to spinoffs. No good franchise is complete without them nowadays. For now, star Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) is keen to get back to work to bookend the series. “I just want to help finish it off, but not in a way of ‘I want to be done with it.’ It’s just like, I want to know what happens,” he told Uproxx. “I’m definitely sad about it, but also, I know that it’s the next kind of chapter of everyone’s life that needs to happen.”

Beyond that, we’ll have to wait and see. Funnily enough, Wolfhard has already correctly guessed a spinoff idea that creators Matt and Ross Duffer had in mind.

Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard is hoping for “a perfect ending”

Everyone would love to see the story continue forever, but the central idea comes with an expiration date. “To me, if Stranger Things went on any longer than five [seasons], I would say it would be ridiculous,” Wolfhard said.

Season 4 was the most epic yet. No longer was the story confined to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana; it expanded in Russia and California. And it had a significantly larger ensemble cast.

While Wolfhard loved working on a grander scale, he hopes the show harkens back to its earlier, more contained days in the final season. “I think [creators Matt and Ross Duffer] brothers figured out, I would imagine, a perfect ending in five,” he said. “We didn’t even know if we’d do two. So, we’re happy that people still are around and want to watch it. But yeah, I’m excited. Four was huge in scale, but I think I’d like to see the fifth season draw back on more of the dynamics of Season 1 and sort of be a little more contained, but also still be gigantic. I hope we kind of get an ending for each character that’s pretty satisfying for fans.”

Finn Wolfhard wants Will Byers to have a happy ending on Stranger Things

If any character in Stranger Things deserves a happy ending, it’s Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). He spends the entire first season surviving the Upside Down, and he’s hardly had any respite since. The latest season made it clear that Will has romantic feelings for Mike, although Mike is totally oblivious to it. Schnapp previously noted that, after season 4, “it’s 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike.”

Speaking to IndieWire, Wolfhard discussed how we’ll see Mike and Will’s relationship evolve in season 5:

"As far as the Mike and Will relationship goes, I always found it kind of funny, especially last season of Mike just being so clueless. I would imagine Mike is going to be totally accepting of Will, and I really want Will to have a really happy ending. And I think he will. What’s going to be so awesome about season five is that the Duffers are sort of trying to thread this needle of trying to get every character to have their perfect ending. So I’m excited to see what ends up happening."

Stranger Things season 5 begins production this year. Expect to see it air sometime in 2024.

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