We all know Stranger Things is about to come to an end with the season 5 finale on New Year's Eve 2025, but one of the stars of Stranger Things isn't quite ready to channel Eleven and close the gate to the Upside Down just yet.
Finn Wolfhard, who has starred as Mike Wheeler since the series premiered on Netflix way back in 2016, shared his complicated feelings about Stranger Things 5 truly, really, and totally being the end of the most populat Netflix series of all time.
In a huge interview with the Stranger Things cast for Variety, Wolfhard opened up about his feelings about the future of Stranger Things beyond season 5. Here's what he said:
"I don’t think I’ll ever truly feel like it’s the end. The show will live on in so many ways that I hope it still feels relevant to people years down the line. As far as the actual end of the story goes, I don’t know. I mean, there’s a reason why we ended it, and it’s done. But who’s to say that the Duffers, in 10 years, when they get another idea, they do it? It’s up to them. I think it’s good that it’s the end, but part of me hopes it’s not."
I totally pick up what Wolfhard is putting down. This part of the story, the one that started with Will Byers going missing in the Upside Down, is ending very soon. That's sad. In some ways, it feels like a chapter of life is ending for fans of the series. I can't imagine how it feels for this particular cast and crew to be turning the page on this chapter of their lives.
Matt and Ross Duffer, who dreamed his project up many, many years ago, have spent a full decade bringing this story to life under a gigantic microscope with all the pressure that comes with running one of the biggest shows in the world, and they've delivered every single time. After signing a four-year deal with Paramount, the Duffers are clearly ready to tell other stories, and that's exciting for Stranger Things fans, too.
We already know there's another Stranger Things spinoff in the works, but that project has almost nothing to do with this story and these characters. It won't be like Star Wars, the Duffers told Variety in a separate interview.
Here's what Matt Duffer said:
"We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters. This is a complete story. It’s done.”
Ross Duffer also shared why specifically a Star Wars-like universe just couldn't work for the Stranger Things spinoffs with Variety.
"They’re going to live in a bit of a different world. There’s going to be connective tissue, but you’re almost anthologizing in a way. Because we’re not ‘Star Wars.’ We can’t be like, ‘Oh, now we’re on this planet.’"
The Duffers, of course, are not setting up this story to continue, as they mentioned, but I fully agree with Wolfhard that this might not be the end of Stranger Things as we know it, even if the Duffers are to leave no stone unturned and say goodbye.
The thing is, whether the Duffers want to admit it or not, Stranger Things is basically the Star Wars of the streaming era. This is the show that put Netflix on the map in terms of original TV and film, and it completely connected with the mainstream, much like Star Wars did nearly 50 years ago. We all knew George Lucas had plans to expand the franchise, but it took two decades for that to happen. The same thing could happen with Stranger Things.
A more apt comparison for the future of Stranger Things might actually be Game of Thrones. Sure, you don't have quite the same story to draw from in Hawkins as they did in Westeros, but could we see the events of Stranger Things: The First Shadow in a limited series of some kind in the future? If there's an alternate dimension in Hawkins, are there other alternate dimensions that have bled into our world? The possibilities are not quite endless, but they are plentiful.
And, there's just no way that Netflix is going to see the level of popularity on this scale for Stranger Things 5 and then just let it all go. And, while there's maybe not as big of a galaxy far, far away to play in, there's no telling what time could do for the Duffers. Maybe, when they've done other projects, they could get the perfect idea to head back to Hawkins?
While I don't think Stranger Things fans should be expecting that we'll get more Stranger Things stories about these characters anytime soon, I'm Justin Bieber and I will never say never on the stories of these characters revisited. The IP is simply too big right now.
Of course, we don't know how Stranger Things ends yet. How that happens will obviously chart the course for what's possible in the future. But, I'm willing to bet that the Duffer brothers take the advice Hopper wrote to Eleven way back in Stranger Things 3 and leave the door open three inches.