Finn Wolfhard Teases Stranger Things Season 5 May Not End the Duffers' Hawkins Saga
As Stranger Things filmed its final scenes, the cast and crew told Variety it felt more like graduation than goodbye — and Finn Wolfhard says it still doesn’t feel like the end.
Stranger Things is finally wrapping up, and everyone who made it is feeling all the senior-year emotions. Variety sat down with the cast and the Duffer brothers to talk about the last days on set, how the finale came together, and what happens when you spend a decade in Hawkins. Short version: it feels like an ending, but not like an ending-ending.
Finn Wolfhard: Yeah, it ends... but also, maybe not?
Most of the cast compared finishing the show to graduating or growing up. Finn Wolfhard put it more bluntly: he does not really feel like Stranger Things is over, even though the story is officially done. He hopes the series stays relevant for years, but he knows there was a reason to close it out now. At the same time, he left the door cracked for a return to Hawkins down the road if the Duffers get the itch.
'I don't think I'll ever truly feel like it's the end... There's a reason why we ended it, and it's done. But who's to say that the Duffers, in 10 years, when they get another idea, they do it? It's up to them. I think it's good that it's the end, but part of me hopes it's not.'
The Duffers after Hawkins: new deal, new chapter
Matt and Ross Duffer have been living Stranger Things since their early thirties, when they were relatively unknown and pitched the show that turned into a global phenomenon. After 10 years of building a family with the cast and crew (especially the kids who started as barely-teenagers), Matt says he is not planning to spend another decade on a single project again. He admits they sometimes obsessed over the series and part of him wishes they had finished it faster, since it swallowed their entire thirties. No regrets, though — just a very long, very intense, very special run.
Now they are looking ahead under a new deal at Paramount. And yes, they said they are ready to walk away from the 'crazy creative leash' they had at Netflix. If that phrase sounds contradictory, the gist is: they had a ton of freedom at Netflix, and moving to Paramount likely means a different kind of setup. They seem fine with the trade-off and ready to try something new.
The secretive finale script that made everyone sweat
The last table read happened on September 8, 2024 — and none of the actors had seen the finished finale script before they sat down. The Duffers kept it locked down so tightly that only the two of them and maybe two others had read it. Matt says the cast tries to poke around for spoilers (Millie Bobby Brown is apparently great at guessing), but that day everyone read it completely cold, which made the brothers extra nervous. Ross added that the cast is fiercely protective of their characters; a few of them knew the broad strokes of what was coming, but not where they would land.
It was an intimate session: the Duffers, the cast, and executive producer/director Shawn Levy. In a funny bit of scheduling chaos, a couple of actors had already shot small pieces of the finale before the script was even finalized. Despite all that, the read went well, and now the rest of us finally get to see what was on those pages.
When and how you can watch the end
Stranger Things Season 5 is rolling out in chunks, with the very last episode dropping on New Year’s Eve — and yes, they put a time stamp on it.
- First four episodes: November 26, 2025
- Next three episodes: December 25, 2025
- Final episode: December 31, 2025 at 5 PM PT
So, is it really goodbye to Hawkins? Officially, yes. Emotionally, probably not. Give it 10 years and a good idea — stranger things have happened.