Grandpa Hopper? Duffer Brothers shut down Stranger Things sequel with OG group

Stranger Things came to an end with its fifth and final season. While some viewers found the climax underwhelming, others described it as a wholesome and heartfelt goodbye to the characters. After the premiere of the season 5 finale, creators Matt and Ross Duffer spoke about the possibility of spin-offs and whether the original characters could return in the future.

The journey of Stranger Things began in 2017, when audiences were introduced to the world of Hawkins and characters such as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin). Over the seasons, the show expanded its ensemble with fan favourites like Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), and Jim Hopper (David Harbour). As the series concluded, these characters had grown from children into adults. With the show wrapped up, the Duffer Brothers were asked whether the gang could ever reunite on screen.

Is a Stranger Things spin-off in the works? Duffer Brothers answers

The Duffer Brothers are currently working on animated and live-action spin-offs. However, when asked if there was any possibility of revisiting the original group, they gave a clear response.

Answering the question, ''Is the door open to maybe revisit this group when you’re done with the live-action and the animated spinoffs?,.'

In the final episode, Mike is seen walking out of the basement and closing the door behind him, a moment that metaphorically explains that it's the end of their story.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Matt went on to explain the closing credits,''We really don’t know. I mean, Mike’s closing the basement door. We’re closing the door on the story. That’s one reason we had the closing credits the way that we did, because it was a way of saying: This is finite. This is the end of their story. It’s the end of the story of Mike and Eleven and Joyce [Winona Ryder] and Hopper. So, no, there’s no plan or intention to tell the story because it’s a coming-of age story. Ultimately, that’s what it’s supposed to be. That’s what the show always was. When he closes the door to the basement, he’s closing the door on his childhood and he’s moving onto adulthood.''

Discussing the idea of a sequel, Matt joked about how it could easily feel forced, saying that what they will be exploring is Grandpa Hopper.

Calling it a gross cash grab, Matt said, ''I mean, I guess a sequel could be about a midlife crisis. That just sounds really uninteresting! (Laughs.) Grandpa Hopper? I don’t know how that would read as anything but a gross cash grab to me. I wish I could talk a little bit more about the spinoff, but I’m not allowed to yet. But Ross and I are really excited about exploring new characters and a new mythology, but still very much are interested in telling a story in the spirit of Stranger Things. It feels like with this final season, we finished saying everything we wanted to say about these characters, this story and the Upside Down,.'

Stranger Things season 5 premiered worldwide to overwhelming fan excitement. The frenzy was so intense that the streaming platform briefly crashed, not once, but twice.

When asked about the same, the director said,'' Ross said that he's surprised.

''I didn’t ask them to increase the bandwidth more. I should have. We’re feeling really good. It was so fun because we went to the Americana [AMC movie theater] in Glendale [California] last night and watched it with a bunch of fans, and to see them responding to the show in real time was such an incredible experience and something we’ve never had before. We’ve done premieres, but of course that’s not filled with just fans of the show. So to see them respond in the way they did was such a great ending to the story for us,'' he said.