‘Stranger Things’ Actor Predicted the Upcoming Netflix Spinoff Before Anyone Else — and the Creators Agree
Netflix announced back in 2022 that the popular series will end with its fifth season later this year, but they’re also planning to expand the story with new projects. The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, revealed that a live-action spinoff series is in the works through their company, Upside Down Pictures.
They are also working on an animated series called Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. But not much is known about the live-action spinoff yet.
Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler on the show, seems to have a good guess about what the spinoff might be like. Ross Duffer told Variety, “Nobody — not Netflix, not any of the producers, not any of the directors, not any of the actors — nobody else has figured out what the spinoff is. Finn figured [it] out, which is pretty remarkable. We’ve mind-melded with this kid a bit.”
Wolfhard compared the upcoming spinoff to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, saying it might be “sort of an anthology and different tones but similar universe or same universe,” but set in places outside of Hawkins, Indiana.
He added, “I think set in different places and all tied together through this mythology of the Upside Down. Don’t even talk about Hawkins. Don’t have any mention of our characters.” Wolfhard mentioned that the idea is still being developed, but he believes the show could explore other labs like the one in Hawkins, possibly in Russia or other locations.
The Hawkins National Laboratory is a key part of the Stranger Things story. It’s where Dr. Martin Brenner and other scientists ran experiments connected to a secret CIA project called MKUltra.
One of the test subjects, Terry Ives, gave birth to Eleven, the girl with psychokinetic powers who became a central character in the show. Other test subjects, like Kali Prasad (known as Eight) and Henry Creel (One), also appear in the series.
The Upside Down’s story has grown with new places like Dimension X, an alternate dimension tied to a real-life conspiracy called Project Rainbow, and a Soviet lab in Kamchatka, Russia. These locations have been explored in additional Stranger Things stories, including a stage play and comic books.
When asked about rumors of spinoffs focused on characters like Eleven or Steve and Dustin, Matt Duffer said in 2022, “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.” He added, “There is [a] story that connects to the Stranger Things world, but it really is more about how we’re telling that story.”
Fans won’t have to wait long to see the final season of Stranger Things. The three-part fifth season is set to premiere on Netflix on November 26.
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