We only have one season left of the Netflix hit series Stranger Things, and fans are looking forward to seeing how the creators, The Duffer Brothers, are going to finish out the show. As it turns out, a lot of the ideas for this final season have been around since before Season 2 was written.
The Duffers have been vocal about the fact that they have had a clear story arc for the show all along, but the details have had to be worked out along the way. Many of the big ideas were thought up just after Season 1, when the show exploded as a huge hit, and the writers knew that they would definitely be able to continue the story.
In a recent interview with Tudum at Netflix, Ross and Matt Duffer talked about the popularity of the show, and the process of getting all their ideas together. Ross explained:
“The success of Season 1 freaked us out and then we knew we needed to build up this bigger world, that this was going to be ongoing.”
That meant prep for Season 2 included filling up a whiteboard with every idea the writers’ room could imagine. Ross went on:
“But it was way too much — [five times] more ideas than we needed, or [ten times]. For Season 5, we’re pulling from a lot of those big Season 2 ideas… A lot of our big ending stuff has pulled from stuff that we thought was going to be in Season 2.”
Of course, the Duffers remain tight-lipped on which ideas will appear in Stranger Things’ upcoming farewell season. But the brothers did talk in-depth about their writing process for Season 5, which differs from their prior approaches. Due to COVID breaks, the Duffers had time to outline Season 5 before Season 4 was shot, edited, and released. Then, once they got feedback on Season 4 from collaborators and fans alike, they returned to their pre-written plan for the future of Stranger Things.
Matt said:
“We reread the document. We’re like, ‘That’s cool, that’s cool. That could be a lot better. That could be a lot better.’” The brothers then rewrote the outline and pitched their new vision to Netflix. “Even the ending is a little bit different [now],” added Matt, noting that not everything has changed: “A lot of the big ideas are the same, but the stuff that happens within, it’s very different.”
For now, we will have to wait quite a while and speculate on what we will see in the final season as it’s still a long time away. But Seasons 1-4 are available for a rewatch while we wait. However they end up wrapping up the story, I know it will be done with love and care, and I can’t wait to see it.