Netflix’s Patience Wore Thin as Stranger Things Stretched Into a Decade, Duffer Brothers Admit
The Duffer Brothers are racing to close out Stranger Things exactly as they planned—even as a few choices still haunt them.
Stranger Things is finally heading for the exit, and the Duffer brothers sound equal parts relieved and a little wistful. In a new chat with Variety, they talk about getting to finish the story they planned from the start, and the decade-long tunnel vision that came with it.
Ten years, one mega-show
Matt Duffer admits the series basically swallowed their 30s. He wonders if they should have told more different stories over the last decade and wishes they had moved faster, but shrugs that it is what it is. He also makes it clear the marathon was a choice: they could have bailed to make movies but stuck with Stranger Things, and he is happy they did. He points out they were young enough when they started that the timeline did not crush them, tosses out a Ridley Scott reminder that the director did not get rolling until his 40s, and says Netflix has been surprisingly patient. He even feels that patience thinning a bit with the end in sight, but says the streamer has stayed understanding.
The Netflix window, before it closes
Ross Duffer is more glass-half-full about the timing. They launched in the early Netflix era, when the streamer was greenlighting big, slow-burn stories and letting them actually finish. He is not convinced that kind of runway will be easy to find going forward, given how tough it can be now to keep long-running series alive.
"I don't know how many more opportunities there are going to be to tell stories of this length on that size canvas."
So when those what-if regrets creep in, he says he is ultimately glad they got to build and complete this specific story in this specific industry moment.
Final season rollout
Netflix is splitting the last run into three drops in just over five weeks, which is a little unusual and very holiday-heavy:
- Season 5, Volume 1: November 26
- Season 5, Volume 2: December 25
- Season 5, Volume 3: December 31
Two volumes landing on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve is a bold scheduling swing, but it tracks with Netflix chasing event viewing. Either way, the Upside Down is officially on a clock.