In so many ways, Stranger Things feels like the product of a bygone era. For one thing, its ‘80s setting has always characterized it as a nostalgia-fueled production. But more pertinently, the show now fosters nostalgia in its viewers itself, as the first season came out nearly a decade ago.
In this way, Stranger Things has become something akin to Grease for many fans, mining both nostalgia for the period that it is commemorating in film and the period in which it was actually made. Buy beyond this, it is also one of the biggest shows on Netflix.
In a less-than-ideal move for Netflix, the creators of the sci-fi phenomenon, the Duffer Brothers, are leaving the streamer to team up with Paramount, thanks to a new deal that was just struck. According to Deadline, this four-year deal will include both TV and movies. This leads us to wonder if the streamer will ever find its next Stranger Things, or perhaps the moment has passed.
TV has changed since the days of Stranger Things season 1
The landscape of media was in a very different place back in July of 2016 when the first season of Stranger Things was released. One need look no further for proof of this than the evolving release schedules of the show itself, as it has gone from its first few seasons dropping all of their episodes simultaneously, to its latter two seasons doing increasingly staggered releases.
Where Netflix was once the dominant force in the streaming market, it is now merely one in a sea of potential streaming options. As such, it has proven that much more difficult for shows to break out as a potent force in pop culture in the same way that they often did in the late 2010s. For example, even big-name franchises like Star Wars have struggled to regularly capture audiences’ attention on streaming.
This has resulted in Netflix struggling to find the same kind of consistent success with new shows that they once did. Now, the only shows that seem to perform on that kind of level are uniquely endearing, established series. One example is Wednesday. The teen fantasy series based on the Addams Family character is currently the most-watched show on Netflix, but that's an exception. It might just be the only current show that has a chance of replacing Stranger Things in terms of popularity.
The second most-watched series at the time of this writing is Adolescence, a dramatic miniseries that, while it may return for another season, doesn’t have the franchise power that Stranger Things does.
Where other once-unanimous successes, such as House of Cards, The Umbrella Academy, or even Outer Banks, eventually decreased in quality with later seasons, Stranger Things has persevered.
Will Netflix ever truly regain its hold on the zeitgeist? What used to make the streamer special has since become commonplace, with over a dozen other streaming services following their example. As such, the audience they once had a monopoly on has now been split across numerous other platforms, and it's become that much more difficult for them to curate a global audience for a new show.
The fourth season of Stranger Things, released in 2022, was the most successful season of the show thus far and became a bona fide pop cultural sensation once again. Now, with its final season’s release looming, Netflix is banking on the franchise sticking the landing and bringing in record numbers once more. But now, their golden geese in the Duffer Brothers will be departing the streamer.
Netflix's disinterest in theatrical, physical releases turn off creators
Reportedly, one of the big reasons the Duffers were lured away from Netflix was that Paramount was willing to guarantee them theatrical distribution for future projects, something which the streamer has famously shied away from.
Even with films by big-name directors like Guillermo del Toro, David Fincher, Rian Johnson, and Mike Flanagan, Netflix has routinely pushed against releasing films in theaters or on physical media. This has tainted some of the company’s relationships with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and the Duffers now seem to be the latest in this list of creators.
Netflix’s penchant for eschewing theatrical releases and physical media might just turn up-and-coming filmmakers, like the Duffers once were, away. As such, it's no surprise that the showrunners are taking their Demogorgons and playing elsewhere.
The final season of Stranger Things hits Netflix in three separate releases: Nov. 26, Dec. 25, and Dec. 31.