“Stranger Things” has officially come to an end but the universe may continue, according to creators Matt and Ross Duffer.
The Season 5 finale dropped on New Year’s Eve, seeing Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her friends defeat Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) once and for all.
The final episode, titled “The Rightside Up,” also saw Eleven sacrifice herself to destroy the Upside Down. Meanwhile, the rest of the Hawkins teens went on to graduate high school and enter new eras of their lives.
But what’s next? According to the Duffer brothers, a continuation of the “Stranger Things” storyline but with a twist.
What Will the ‘Stranger Things’ Spinoff Be About?
In an interview with Variety, the Duffer brothers were asked to describe the rock that young Henry finds in the briefcase he took from a scientist in the cave.
They then teased a spinoff centering around just that.
“The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you’re going to understand it,” Matt Duffer said. “But it’s a completely different mythology.”
Matt Duffer explained that the spinoff is “not a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer.”
“It’s very fresh and very new, but yes, it will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining,” he added.
Maksim Blatt as Young Henry in “Stranger Things” Season 5.COURTESY OF NETFLIX / COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2025
Matt Duffer noted that they’re really excited “to work with a clean slate: completely new characters, new town, new world, new mythology.”
According to the brothers, there will be “no common characters” from “Stranger Things” in the spinoff.
When Will the Spinoff Be Released?
At this time, the spinoff is in the works.
Ross Duffer shared that they would be back in the writers’ room on the Monday after the series finale.
“We’ve been working on it on and off. We’ll take a few days off,” he said.
Matt Duffer added, “You don’t understand. My favorite part of the show is working on it. It’s not releasing it — that’s just stressful, no matter how it goes when you release it.”
“I like the creative part. I like making it,” he said.
‘Stranger Things’ Already Have a Spinoff — Kind Of
The “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” play. Courtesy Matthew Murphy
While not widely available to all, there is the “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” play.
It first opened in London’s West End in December 2023, before making its way to Broadway on April 22, 2025. The play tells the origin story of how Henry Creel became Vecna.
The play begins with a high school Henry, who meets high school age Joyce, Hopper and Bob Newby. Henry also strikes up a romance with Bob’s sister, Patty.
However, after an incident in a cave (yes, the one from Season 5), he goes into another dimension. Known as the Black Void, a young Henry faces Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer.
As viewers know, Henry develops telekinetic abilities that intrigue Dr. Brenner. Henry goes on to become the doctor’s test subject One, compared to Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven.
The Duffer brothers previously told TODAY.com that fans didn’t need to watch the play to understand Vecna/Henry. Matt Duffer noted that Season 5, Vol. 2 explained “half of Henry’s core memory” that he had been “trying to hide from, where he discovered the scientist in the cave when he was a child.”
People would then see the second half of that memory in the finale.
“The play is really about what occurs after that. So in a way, the play is a sequel to that moment,” Matt Duffer said, with Ross Duffer adding, “So it’s really about Henry and his connection to the Mind Flayer. But again, the goal of it was that it would work as a standalone story, but also works as a companion piece in a way.”