Stranger Things: Season 5. Vecna in Stranger Things: Season 5. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
stranger things is officially over, but the franchise will continue to live on thanks to various tie-in media, an upcoming animated spinoff, and of course the expected live-action spinoff series. The latter is being kept firmly under lock and key at the moment. What do we know so far?
when it comes to stranger things Universe, there is one certainty: nothing happens quickly. The series made its debut on Netflix in 2016, with 5 seasons released in less than a decade. Nowadays television does not come fast, but its speed is particularly slow. Granted, the team had to contend with both a global pandemic and an industry strike. All Things Considered, Final Season Did Landing stick. Not everyone was completely satisfied, but overall, it accomplished everything very well.
Whereas (spoiler!) With Vecna defeated and the Upside Down ultimately destroyed, there’s certainly more than enough scope for more stories. In fact, Stranger Things will return to our screens later this year with an animated spinoff Stories of ’85which chronicles the children’s unseen adventures, bridging the gap between Seasons 2 and 3. We’ve covered the upcoming animated series extensively here. There’s good news and bad news for what the future may have to offer in the live-action space. Good? A live-action spinoff is officially in development. bad? We know very little about it and there is still some time to go.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: live-action stranger things The spinoff is still in the early stages of development and has no title and no plot details of any kind. Despite this, creators Matt and Ross Duffer are hinting at their Season 5 press tour. They will not be showrunners on the spinoff, although they are heavily involved.
Fans can expect something different. It will not continue the stories of the characters we are already familiar with, rather, it will tell its own story, set in a different decade, far away from Hawkins, with new characters and a new mythology. The entrance to the Upside Down has been permanently closed. “We’re actually closing the door on that,” Matt Duffer explained. screen bounce In a recent interview after the season 5 finale.
Additionally, Ross Duffer further doubled down on the spinoff’s unique story. This is not a case of resting on a winning formula, but of reinventing the franchise with something fresh. “It’s really a completely different story, in a completely different location with completely different actors and characters. So it’s really its own entity.” However, having said all that, he backtracked by saying that the spinoff is “related in some ways” to the original series. After all, it wouldn’t be a spinoff if it weren’t related.
The Duffer Brothers Won’t Tell Us What The Spinoff Is, But They Have Confirmed What It Is what is not“This is not referring to Hopper Montauk, There is no Montauk spinoff,” Ross Duffer told deadlineHe added, “It’s obviously not Holly and the baby or anything like that, It’s a much smaller thing than that,” “We’ve said this before, it’s early days for any spinoff idea we have,”
The Stranger Things finale includes an important detail for the spinoff.
The Season 5 finale gave us our biggest tease of what’s to come, and it looks like the spinoff could be a prequel, showing the rise of Henry Creel, who will become the all-powerful Vecna.
Image: Netflix
In the finale, the show delves deeper into Kreel’s descent into Vecna. In a flashback playing in his mind, we see him as a young boy in a cave. He comes across a scientist holding a briefcase. As young Henry Creel innocently approaches the injured scientist, he is shot in the arm. In shock, he brutally beats the man to death. Covered in blood, he opens the briefcase and uncovers a supernatural artifact – a small rock – which appears to infect and communicate with his insides. This may well be how Henry Creel initially came into contact with the Mind Flayer.
The show shows us a little, but it doesn’t tell us much. It is explored in the official Stranger Things drama, first shadowVery. Still, the larger history surrounding Henry Creel is something that can certainly be explored – and will be done. He explained, “The spinoff will delve deeper into this and you’ll understand.” Diversity“But it’s a completely different mythology, So it’s not a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer or anything like that, It’s very fresh and very new,”
Ross Duffer also revealed that work on the spinoff is already ramping up. We are going to start work on this again on Monday. We have been working continuously on this. We will take a few days leave.”
As for Matt Duffer, he’s very excited to start a brand new project:
“My favorite part of the show is working on it. It’s not releasing it – it’s just stressful, no matter how it happens when you release it. That’s probably my least favorite part of the process. I love the creative part. I love creating it. So, we’re really excited, and it’s very exciting to be working with a clean slate: completely new characters, new city, new world, new mythology.”
As far as the release date is concerned, these are very early days. Let’s give it at least a few years. In the meantime, stranger things not going anywhere. animated spinoff Stranger Things: Stories from ’85 Debuting later this year, and at least two other unnamed projects (something like this) we’ll have to keep quiet about.
stranger things The universe will continue to expand through novels and comics.
a live-action stranger things The spinoff is still a while away, but there are plenty of excellent tie-ins to the media to watch while you wait. Over the years, the franchise has expanded extensively into comics and novels, building the lore of the Upside Down and developing beloved characters. These novels add seasons, expand loose ends, and much more.
Such spinoff novels include suspicious MindsWhich delves deeper into the history of Eleven’s mother. then there is flight of icarusA novel telling the unseen story of fan favorite Eddie Munson. There are other tie-in novels Darkness on the Edge of Town (2019), man on the run (2019), rebel robin (2021), lucas on the line (2022), dustin experiment (2024), and one way or another (2025).
There are also comic books in abundance. we recommend the other sideA series that also chronicles Will Byers’ early days in the Upside Down Hawkins’ storiesPlus, of course, there’s the official stage play, first shadow,
If you’re looking for additional content to bridge the gap before the expected live-action spinoff, there’s plenty out there.