All the Stranger Things Spinoffs the Duffer Brothers Could Actually Greenlight Next

Stranger Things is ending with Season 5, but Hawkins isn’t closing up shop. The Duffer Brothers are already tinkering with multiple spinoffs, and a couple of them sound genuinely bold. They keep saying anything with the Stranger Things name has to feel fresh, not a remix (via The Hollywood Reporter), which is the right approach. Here’s what’s confirmed, what’s cooking, and what’s just a twinkle in the Upside Down.

What’s next for Stranger Things

1. Stranger Things: Tales From '85 (Animated Series) — Confirmed, coming 2026
   The only one locked in. An animated series set in 1985, between the first two seasons. Flying Bark Productions is animating it (they worked on Marvel’s What If...?), with Eric Robles (Glitch Techs) running the show and the Duffers executive producing. Expect Saturday-morning-cartoon energy, new monsters, and a fresh paranormal mystery, plus the core gang and a new character named Nikki. It’s already renewed for Season 2 before Season 1 even hits. Ambitious, big, and the format lets them go weirder than live-action budgets usually allow.

2. The Mystery Spinoff Only Finn Wolfhard Guessed — Highly likely, in development
   The Duffers have a secret spinoff idea. The wild part: Finn Wolfhard guessed it perfectly. His read? An anthology-style series set in different places with different tones, all connected by the Upside Down mythology. Ross Duffer said Finn nailed it, and the brothers have suggested this one uses entirely new characters with no continuation of Eleven or the Hawkins crew. They’ve described it as having connective tissue to the original, but operating more like an anthology (they’ve talked about this on the Happy Sad Confused podcast). If that’s the blueprint, it’s a smart way to expand without repeating the same formula.

3. International Lab Locations Series — Medium likelihood, rumored
   Building off Finn’s correctly guessed concept, there’s chatter that the next big swing could trace the global web of Upside Down experimentation. We’ve had the Russian thread already; imagine dialing that out to Cold War Germany, Soviet programs, Japan, the UK… each episode or season spotlighting a different country’s secret research into interdimensional travel. New cultures, new eras, same creeping horror. It widens the lens and finally answers the nagging question: how far does this conspiracy go?

4. The First Shadow Universe Expansion — Medium likelihood, stage success
   The stage prequel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, has been a hit on London’s West End and on Broadway. Written by Kate Trefry and directed by Stephen Daldry, it zeroes in on Henry Creel’s origin story in 1959 Hawkins alongside teen versions of Hopper, Joyce, and Bob. Co-director Justin Martin has teased that the play seeds payoffs for Season 5, so this timeline clearly matters. Louis McCartney’s turn as young Henry Creel has drawn raves, the production has picked up awards, and the whole thing proves this era could sustain more than one story. A TV prequel following early Hawkins Lab feels like an easy next step.

5. Steve and Dustin Buddy Comedy — Lower likelihood, fan favorite
   Everybody loves the Steve/Dustin bromance. Gaten Matarazzo has even floated the idea of more Steve-and-Dustin as a smaller project — a short web series or a few specials — not a full-on show. Tonally it would lean lighter and sillier: road trips, college chaos, Steve trying to mentor anyone who will listen. Joe Keery can absolutely carry the comedy, and Gaten’s got the timing. It’s a crowd-pleaser idea, just not the one the Duffers are likely to anchor the next era on.

6. The Kali/Eight Spinoff — Medium likelihood, previously discussed
   Remember Kali/Eight from Season 2 (Linnea Berthelsen), the illusion-caster who pushes Eleven toward a revenge tour? The Duffers kicked around a Kali-led spinoff way back in 2017. Done right, it’s a leaner, grittier urban thriller about escaped subjects, trauma, found family, and vigilante justice. It’s also a clean lane to dig into other numbered kids and Dr. Brenner’s wider slate of experiments. Berthelsen was underused in Season 2; the character has room for a proper deep dive.

7. Hopper’s Past/Vietnam War Prequel — Lower likelihood, character-driven
   Hopper’s one of the show’s most layered characters and we’ve only seen the tip of his backstory. Picture a grounded 1970s Vietnam/early-80s Hawkins drama tracing how he became the gruff, wounded chief from Season 1 — wartime scars, PTSD, and the loss of his daughter Sara shaping everything. David Harbour can carry it, no question. If the brothers want projects that feel very different from the mothership, this is a strong candidate. The question is whether they want to live in prequel mode long-term when other ideas push the world outward.

8. The Government Conspiracy Series — Medium likelihood, genre expansion
   Flip the show’s DNA into a political thriller: the suits who greenlit Brenner’s program, the cover-ups that kept the gates open, the moral rot behind interdimensional science. Think X-Files energy mixed with All the President’s Men. New characters, same ominous machinery. The Duffers keep talking about building things that feel genuinely different, and this lane checks that box without needing Demogorgons chasing bikes every episode.

The Duffers’ playbook (and a telling quote)

They’ve been pretty blunt about how they want to handle anything with the Stranger Things label: keep the quality high, avoid repetition, and give every project a reason to exist (via The Hollywood Reporter). Also worth noting: with a planned move to Paramount Pictures in 2026, don’t expect a firehose of content just to keep the lights on.

"If TV shows come out every year, it’s diminishing return. I like the buildup" (via Variety).

Translation: expect event projects, not endless spin cycles. And yes, Finn Wolfhard definitely knows more than he’s saying, and the Duffers are happy to let him be the one guy in on the secret. For now.

Final season timing

Stranger Things Season 5 premieres November 26, 2025, exclusively on Netflix. The final run drops in three parts, with new episodes landing on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Stock up on Eggos accordingly.

Which offshoot are you rooting for? Finn’s anthology pitch sounds like the cleanest way to grow the universe, but I wouldn’t say no to a sharp, paranoid government thriller either. Tell me where you land.