5 Stranger Things Spin-Offs We Want to See After the Series Finale

After five seasons and nearly a decade, “Stranger Things” is over — and of course, plans for a spinoff are in place. Netflix figured out how to keep ‘Stranger Things’ going forever if necessary, thanks to the upcoming animated series “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85”. Finn Wolfhard (who plays Mike Wheeler) also divulged some details about what a ‘Stranger Things’ spin-off would be abouthinting at David Lynch vibes and an anthology theme. Oh, and we also know for sure that the currently unannounced spinoff won’t focus on the main cast at all, thanks to comments from co-creator Matt Duffer at The Hollywood Reporter:

“Mike closes the door to the basement. We close the door to the story. That’s one of the reasons we had the end credits the way we did, because it was a way of saying, ‘It’s over. This is the end of their story. This is the end of Mike and Eleven’s story.’ [Millie Bobby Brown] and Joyce [Winona Ryder] and hopper [David Harbour].’ So no, there are no plans or intentions to tell this story because it’s a coming-of-age story. At the end of the day, it’s what it’s supposed to be. That’s what the show has always been about. When he closes the basement door, he closes the door to his childhood and moves into adulthood.”

Then again, if there’s one property Netflix would really like to get into, it’s probably “Stranger Things.” The Duffer brothers may not be feeling it right now, but who knows? Let’s assume that relentless pressure from the deep-pocketed streaming giant will eventually convince them to Taylor Sheridan and open their world to spin-offs that directly expand on the original story. If that happens, here are some ideas for a “Stranger Things” spinoff that might very well interest fans.

Let’s start with the A sneaky spinoff in the ‘Stranger Things’ series finaleshall we? In the barrage of happy and bittersweet character endings, we discover that Hopper and Joyce are planning to get married and very understandably intend to move away from Hawkins. Their new home will be a town called Montauk, where Hop has been offered a better job as police chief. This is a very deliberate nod to the Duffer Brothers’ planned “Stranger Things” proto-show “Montauk,” which played with some of the same elements but was set in the titular city of New York instead of Hawkins, Indiana. But what if it was also something bigger?

Despite comments that contradict the idea, it would make perfect sense for the Duffers to focus the spin-off on the characters of Winona Ryder and David Harbour. Ryder, in particular, rarely had her flowers on the show after season 1, as Joyce was often relegated to general angst and anxiety while more interesting storylines swirled all around her. With Ryder being a Golden Globe winner and two-time Oscar nominee, it always seemed like an odd decision – and she might not be opposed to elevating the character in a spin-off.

As for the purpose of this spin-off, it’s possible that it still involves elements of the “Montauk Project” conspiracy theory about secret government experiments. On the other hand, “Stranger Things” has already had a lot of that, so maybe Hop and Joyce’s version of “Montauk” would be something completely different. But are these details really important? Just bring back the version of Joyce who was happy to chop off Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) head with an axe, and we’re golden.

One of the many Unanswered Questions After ‘Stranger Things’ Series Finale This is what Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) did between the main characters’ final confrontation with the military and the epilogue, where he was only seen briefly at the gang’s graduation ceremony two years later. Perhaps he has simply returned to conspiracy theories and daily private investigations. Or maybe after seeing his skills in action (he blew up a military helicopter and repeatedly infiltrated Hawkins as the team’s smuggler), the government recruited him.

As clumsy as he may seem, Murray is a beast of character, with tenacity and ability to spare. Aside from that helicopter explosion, he proves to be a huge asset to everyone around him time and time again, and plays a crucial role in both rescuing Hopper from the Soviet prison camp and closing down the Upside Down. In season 4 of “Stranger Things,” he even pulls off some surprisingly effective martial arts moves against Yuri (Nikola Đuričko), a hardened criminal and military veteran. Oh, and he has plenty of experience in the field, not to mention knowledge of the Upside Down and the Abyss. Murray, in other words, is exactly the kind of guy the powers that be might want to keep an eye on, and maybe even recruit into the CIA or an even more obscure agency.

From a fan perspective, watching Gelman Fox Mulder navigate his way through various “Stranger Things”-adjacent storylines as a shady government agent would be the perfect combination of hilarious and awesome. Although Murray has an anti-authoritarian streak, it might even fit his character: as an ardent conspiracy theorist, he would be tempted by a position where he could finally get real answers.

One way for “Stranger Things” to have its Hawkins cake and eat it too has already been set up in the series finale: just pass the baton to the next generation. Nell Fisher’s Holly Wheeler gets a lot of screen time in Season 5 of “Stranger Things” and eventually becomes the de facto leader of her own ragtag team of teenagers – just like her older brother Mike before him. Only this time, children are already used to dealing with the supernatural before they start playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Holly’s emergence as a major character doubles as a passing of the torch moment that allows Mike and the others to transition into adulthood. Conveniently, it also ends the series with a new predefined gang: Holly herself, the wonderfully profane Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly), Debbie (Eden Stephens), Mary (Calista Craig), and Josh (Anthony B. Jenkins). It would be a shame if this was the last time we saw this group of Vecna’s surviving friends, wouldn’t it? After all, when the various spies and scientists inevitably return to Hawkins to pick up the pieces and search for artifacts related to the Abyss, it will be up to them to clean up the mess.

Prequel shows can be very effective in the right hands – just ask “Better Call Saul.” As it turns out, “Stranger Things” already contains many pre-existing and relatively obscure prequel stories that the Duffer brothers could potentially adapt as a spinoff series. “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is a play that explores the origins of Henry “Vecna” Creel and the Upside Down through the eyes of younger versions of several pre-existing characters… as well as Patty Newby, the sister of “Stranger Things” Season 2 MVP Bob Newby (Sean Astin) and Henry’s girlfriend.

In this case, Season 5 of “Stranger Things” requires knowledge of this spin-off in many places, since it alludes to events that were only described in “The First Shadow”. This could be seen as a sign that something is indeed happening. It would make perfect sense for Netflix to adapt “The First Shadow” in some way, and a series that focuses on the early years of “Stranger Things”‘ main villain would certainly be an interesting direction for the live-action portion of the franchise.

It’s hard to see the Duffer Brothers returning to Eleven’s story any time soon, given how ambiguous her ending is in the “Stranger Things” series finale. But it doesn’t matter; they can sit on this for a while and let El build a new life somewhere. However long it takes, a simple time jump will be enough to bring the story up to speed.

The point is, there’s still a lot to explore in Eleven’s story. Assuming the survival story Mike tells is true — which, in a spinoff storyline, obviously should be — she’s the last known psychokinetic alive, wandering Earth to keep her powers a secret from the shadowy U.S. and Soviet military forces who would like to restart another round of supernatural nonsense with her blood. Of course, with El being heroic to a fault, she would eventually find herself in a situation that would require her to use her impressive array of powers, which would again attract all manner of military and supernatural forces.

With projects like the “Enola Holmes” films, Millie Bobby Brown showed she could shine in a leading role. With his character’s ties now completely cut off from the rest of the “Stranger Things” folks, Brown could once again take the franchise in a whole new direction.