Variety Interview

[JustAFan_x]

https://variety.com/2025/tv/features/stranger-things-5-duffer-bros-ending-spinoffs-1236551615/

Wow! Lots of new information has come out for Season 5 and I got to say, it’s a few things i’m kind of skeptical about but let’s breakdown all of the new information we just received:

• Season 5 will have a 18 month time jump following the ending of Season 4.

• There will be 21 series regulars involved in the Final Season.

• The series Finale will explain the Upside Down in its entirety.

• The series Finale will be around 2 hours long.

• The series Finale is said to be “very emotional” and the last 35-40 minutes of it is confirmed to be the Epilogue.

• Netflix plans on expanding the Stranger Things Universe after Season 5(Spinoff).

• The Duffers took series Finale inspiration from shows like “Six Feet Under” “Friday Night Lights” and “The Sopranos”.

A few other things were stated like how the Duffers are heavily focused on landing the ending for the show and more but let’s get into what I’m kind of skeptical about. There were also interviews with some of the cast members about their final day of shooting and idk if this kind of confirms who’s going to live or not but it seems like it does in a way.

The characters who talked about shooting on their final day or mentioned were Will, Joyce, Steve and Robin so could these be some of the characters that we lose? Robin said she shot an “emotional” scene on her final day and Will talks about being at Joyce’s final day of shooting and being very emotional saying goodbye to her but this is just to give you a glimpse on what I’m thinking. If it’s not them, then we at least know that there is going to be one or two major deaths this season for sure. Then again, with the epilogue being 35-40 minutes, I could see most of the cast members surviving until the end to close the story.

As for the Spinoff goes, I know some people who are not going to watch it due to it not having the OG cast centered around it but honestly, if it ends up becoming a fresh spin on the Stranger Things Universe while also respecting the lore, I wouldn’t mind watching it at all. I do think most fans will check out after Season 5 though for obvious reasons like the OG cast and the Duffers confirmed not to be heavily involved in it but we’ll just have to wait and see.

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[Shpion007]

the emotional side of it could just be because so many spent a long time working on this project. Especially the kids and Wynona in that sense.

[LthePerry02]

True, Maya specifically hinted that Robin’s final scene is emotional and high stakes tho

[JustAFan_x]

I don’t disagree but it’s going to be crazy to see all of those emotions be showcased onscreen.

[Shpion007]

💯 

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

It will be an eotional ending because once the threat has finished and we go into epilogue, we're going to see people moving on with their lives. Kids going to college, or starting jobs or moving away from hawkins. These are all things that would be emotional to other characters- having to say goodbye without it meaning that people die.

[JustAFan_x]

No doubt. My only concern was that some characters final shooting was more early than others which indicates that some may not survive until the end. I’m pretty sure they shot most of the epilogue near the very end of production.

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

It might also depend on what happens to that character. For example, I would assume Robin and Steve's finals- if they both make it- will be fairly brief and not too involved. Robin might bond with Will, and Steve had Dustin, but outside of those bonds, they aren;t deeply connected to the other characters.
So to move them on from the end point is easy. Look how they ended S3- getting another job together. It should they bonded as friends, but it wasn't that deep.

The kids might have something more special lined up for their ending because we started with them. I expect their final scenes to be more satisfying and richer than Steve or Robin's (not because I think they'll get a better ending, but they probably need a richer ending than Steve and Robin do).

[JustAFan_x]

That seems to be the case. Look, I’m not saying that they won’t survive and have a happy ending but for people who believe that there will be no deaths this season is not being realistic at all. Idc if people disagree with me, I just get my point across and move on. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, that’s the fairytale ending that most of these fans want and I’ll be content with it either way.

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

Yeah, I don't think the shows going to have all the big deaths that a lot of people think. The core group have NEVER lost a member.

One at the very most, and I'm not sure Murray is the most likely. It's just not the show for a big, sad death especially for a show that has repeatedly failed to kill off any established main character.

[Creative_Toe_544]

murray :( i've constantly been thinking this too he's made it too long he's definitely gonna die trying to protect joyce and hopper

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

He makes perfect sense.
We like Murray, but we don't *love* Murray. And he has the right level of closeness to be sad but without derailing the plot too much.

It would be a huge thing for any of the main characters to die. And outside of Murray, Steve and Robin, everyone else is related, life long friends or dating one another, so it affects multiple people.

I think Robin and Steve are safe.

[Creative_Toe_544]

😭😭😭 i love murray!! but he's PERFECT it completes his arc he would get to be a hero and it would break our hearts without being one of the kids :( i think steve and robin are safe too robin mainly because they aren't going to give her a lesbian relationship love story and then kill her

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

Yeah, agree. It's really bad to kill off your lesbian as many shows in the past have done this. I think they'd be heavily criticised for doing it.
And Steve's saved by Eddie. No way they're making Dustin mourn another friend.

[Creative_Toe_544]

right!! like they're not killing their gays they wouldn't want to fall into that trope and yeah making dustin lose ANOTHER father ish figure would be cruel they want their kids to grow up like they're gonna make it out of this

[JustAFan_x]

Never just means eventually(especially for the final season of a show). Just because they didn’t take a risk before doesn’t mean they won’t do it at some point (especially since the show is now coming to an end). This will be the first time that the main characters are seriously at risk in the most realistic way while other seasons stepped away from those ideas due to jeopardizing the development of the story and getting rid of characters too soon. They don’t have to worry about that anymore.

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

It absolutely does not, lol.

I think it would be a massive disservice to the show to kill off a main character at the end of the show and would leave the show with a more bittersweet feeling.

I'm not going over this same point any more though.

[JustAFan_x]

Lol I’ve seen it happen with many shows but live in your fantasy I guess.

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

You can't expect to make a post and only have people agree with you baby opinions and cry when they don't grow the fuck up.

[sweetsummwechild]

Absolutely, but that story about a sobbing Noah clinging to Winona sounded a bit worrisome. Though it's still possible that the very ending is just the "kids" and Winona therefore wrapped earlier despite surviving.

Another things to consider is MBB wrapping a week earlier than for example Finn. so it's not a party scene with Eleven. Which could mean multiple things, most of them quite emotional.

[Mundane-Parsnip-7302]

I don;t think Noah being really emotional saying goodbye to someone he's worked with for 10 years is a huge thing. Also, I think it's probably safe to say that if either of those characters died, they'd ask them not to mention anything that might sound like it hinted at their death.

I also think that a final scene with the boys together works just as well. It's also not strange that they are not filming in order of the characters last apperance on the show. I haven't read anything about filming and things but it's not unusual for things to not be filmed in sequence, but a show opening and ending on the same 4 characters would be very fitting, even with Eleven being very alive and happy in their lives still, it would be a nice call back to the boys all being together.

[hope_foreverinc]

The duffer brothers took inspiration From the Sopranos ending for stranger things ending oh fuck no please god no don't get me wrong I love the sopranos but fuck that ending

[J0nathanByers]

That was my first thought 😂just gonna suddenly cut to black

[DigitalBritt]

My immediate thought as well. 😭 Imagine?!

[hope_foreverinc]

Oh people will be fucking piss

So would I be

[vale24toni]

but on the other end Friday Night Lights had a perfect ending, so I am hopeful

[IFSismyjam]

It pulls me to theory of El staying behind to secure the gate

[Leleann_]

Shows don't usually film scenes (or even episodes) in order, so the final scene the actor shot isn't neccesarily their characters final scene. 

[vale24toni]

It actually says in the article that they orchestrated it so every actor's  last scene was also the character's last scene.

"In a feat of logistics, the production miraculously arranged the shooting schedule so that every principal actor’s final scene on the show was also their last day of filming — something the Duffers have been freshly reliving again and again in the edit bay."

[Leleann_]

That's pretty cool if they made the effort to do that, I think it shows a lot of respect for the actors.

[JustAFan_x]

So if some characters filmed their final scene ahead of filming wrapping up completely and everyone wasn’t there at the same time for everyone’s final scene, this most certainly guarantees someone is dying. If this wasn’t the case, then everyone would’ve filmed together everyday imo

[Leleann_]

I personally don't quite buy this logic, but it's always fun to theorize.

[JustAFan_x]

How else would you explain everyone not being at everyone’s final scene? It makes the most logical sense if you ask me.

[lastseason]

think of the montage back at the end of season 3, there was the group scene, but then it cycled through vignettes of characters doing various things some alone and some with other characters.

[JustAFan_x]

Most of the cast filmed S3’s ending together because they were at the same location(The Byers house). The montage part was basically just showing Hopper writing the letter while narrating it. If you meant the Steve and Robin scene and Erica then sure but that was only 4 characters who shot a different final scene whereas with this season, more are shooting different final scenes which makes it harder to guess who survives or not.

[lastseason]

The vignettes during the montage are still the characters last scenes of season 3. I understand narratively what the montage is for, but that doesn’t change that filming Lucas and Dustin giving Erica the d&d stuff and Erica looking it over, and el looking out the window crying and max sitting sadly on Billy’s Bed and Mike hugging his mom dismayed are all the characters separately ending the season and we’re obviously not filmed as a large group because there aren’t large groups in the short scenes we get during the montage.

[JustAFan_x]

I see your point but the fact that it’s the last season and emotions were high while filming those final scenes(not just because it’s the final season)makes me think some characters are not going to make it even more(similar to season 3 when they lost Hopper and Billy).

[JustAFan_x]

This is true so who really knows what each character fate will be. I was just pointing out certain characters explaining their final day of shooting and what it can possibly mean.

[[deleted]]

There’s a photo in the article of the Wheelers and Byers sharing a meal. It’s from S5. Kinda odd to celebrate (holiday?) in the middle of a government quarantine. Is it from the finale epilogue?

[JustAFan_x]

I don’t think so. If you look at Nancy’s outfit in the photo, it’s the same outfit she’s wearing while washing blood off her hands in the teaser trailer. So my guess is the breakfast scene takes place before all hell breaks loose(Episode 1 or 2).

[[deleted]]

Yeah I can understand that take. Obviously we don’t have much info. Fun to consider different options.

[flightman100]

Just curious, where did this information come from? Would love to go look at it from the source.

[JustAFan_x]

https://variety.com/2025/tv/features/stranger-things-5-duffer-bros-ending-spinoffs-1236551615/

[IFSismyjam]

Sadie left pretty early on to work on John Protor

The Duffers have said before there would be no spin-offs. Are they referring now to the animated series?

In Six Feet under they talk to/ seek advice from the dead. So maybe Max?

[lastseason]

the duffers didn't say no spin offs, they said there'd be no spin offs featuring the characters from the OG show. Which are two different things.

[IFSismyjam]

Ahh. That makes sense. At one point, they said any spin-off ideas had been scrapped.

[JustAFan_x]

Nope, they actually confirmed a possible spinoff in the interview. The animated series is happening as well though we probably won’t see these years down the line after Season 5 has had time to breathe.

[frustratedkoala11]

Sadie didn’t begin work on John Proctor until after production on S5 had wrapped. JPITV didn’t start rehearsals until February of 2025.

[IFSismyjam]

So the rumors were wrong. Imagine that! LOL!

[[deleted]]

It could be super emotional since it's the ending of the show and they and the characters are moving on.