Usually, when fans learn that a favorite series will get a spinoff, it’s a few years or even decades after the original series has ended. In the case of Netflix‘s Stranger Things, people began talking about a spinoff when the show hadn’t even reached its conclusion. That’s a testament to the strong storytelling of the Duffer Brothers series and the impressive performances by the cast.
While the Duffer Brothers said that Finn Wolfhard figured out the spinoff, no one else knows what story it could tell. Since Matt and Ross Duffer called the spinoff “different” from the original show about the Mind Flayer, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her friends, could that mean it doesn’t have any supernatural elements?
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What Could The Stranger Things Spinoff Be About?
According to E! News, in 2022, Matt and Ross Duffer talked about the Stranger Things spinoff on the podcast Happy Sad Confused and said:
“I’ve read these rumors that there’s gonna be an Eleven spin-off, that there’s gonna be a Steve and Dustin spin-off or that it’s another number. That’s not interesting to me because we’ve done all that. We’ve spent I don’t know how many hours exploring all of that. So it’s very different.”
Based on these comments, it sounds like the Stranger Things spinoff will go in a completely new direction. The spinoff could be a political thriller like the 1983 movie WarGames or tell a grounded story without monsters or superpowers. While fans hope for more Upside Down storylines in Stranger Things season 5, perhaps this setting won’t even be part of the spinoff.
WarGames starred Matthew Broderick as a teenager named David Lightman who finds a supercomputer that belongs to the military. If Stranger Things had a spinoff that went in this direction, then maybe a new character could discover something important about the military or the government. Maybe the spinoff could focus on a creepy project like Dr. Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) work at the memorable setting of Hawkins Lab, or a character could run for a political position while trying to solve a dramatic mystery.
If the Stranger Things spinoff is a more realistic story that doesn’t have creatures or tell a paranormal story, maybe it could focus on a smart child character similar to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) who uncovers a secret about their small town. While the secret might not be about a supernatural setting such as the Upside Down, it could still be fascinating to explore. The key to the spinoff would definitely be the characters. There are so many engaging fan theories about Eleven because she’s such an unforgettable character, and her charm, innocence, and intelligence are present in every scene. Although the creatures and monsters are entertaining and exciting to watch, and there is so much history to dive into, that’s not why so many people tune into every season of Stranger Things. The show has such a huge fanbase because of the strong character development and the unlikely duos who work as a team.
What TV Shows Could The Stranger Things Spinoffs Learn From?
There are a few compelling spinoffs of popular TV shows that Stranger Things could be inspired by. One idea would be Angel, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spinoff that aired for five seasons from 1999 to 2004. David Boreanaz’s character Angel runs a detective agency, Angel Investigations, and deals with all kinds of creepy cases. The spinoff is so appealing because Angel is a charming character, but also because it combines Buffy‘s scary monsters with Angel’s compelling new career.
The Stranger Things spinoff could also take some cues from Frasier, which is a spinoff of Cheers but is completely different. It was smart to center an entirely new show around Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), a Cheers character who moves back to Seattle. The best episodes of Frasier are funny, moving, and quirky, which are three descriptions that could be used for the Duffer Brothers’s hit Netflix series. The spinoff could go this route and pick a brave minor Stranger Things character, like Bob Newby (Sean Astin), and create a new world for them. In this case, for instance, Bob would still be alive, and he could move to a new small town that has a dark history.
Angel and Frasier did three things right: choosing a popular character who fans are invested in, putting them in a new setting, and making sure the show feels familiar but distinct. Stranger Things season 5 might be the conclusion of Eleven and The Party’s time in Hawkins, but viewers won’t have to say goodbye entirely, which is great news.
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Ted Sarandos, the Netflix CEO, recently talked about Stranger Things season 5, which is arriving sometime in 2025 on the streaming service.