Stranger Things Producer Hints At The Possibility Of Spin-Offs

Production on the anxiously-awaited fourth season of Netflix's blockbuster hit sci-fi series "Stranger Things" is finally nearing an end, and it's eyeing a release sometime in 2022. While series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have already confirmed (via The Hollywood Reporter) the new season of "Stranger Things" will not be the last, they've also claimed the end of the show is very much nigh, meaning their long-held idea of ending "Stranger Things" after Season 4 or 5 is likely still the plan. 

"Stranger Things" executive producer and frequent director Shawn Levy confirmed as much when asked about the future of the Netflix franchise during a recent press event for his new film "Free Guy," which Looper attended. He offered that the end of the beloved series is indeed on the horizon, saying, "I have the end in sight. The brothers have the end in sight. There is a plan and that too will be shared not quite as soon as a sense of when Season 4 is coming out, but soon enough. I can say this. No, one's making it up as we go along and there is an endgame, if you will."

In a surprising twist, Levy went on to offer that, even if he and the Duffers are set to bring finality to the current series, the end of "Stranger Things" may not actually be the end.

Levy teased the possibility of a "Stranger Things" spin-off after pointing out just how important the hit series has been in establishing Netflix as a premiere provider of original content: "I'd say what's been made clear is this is obviously a tent pole, arguably the tentpole franchise in the history of Netflix. Obviously certain other shows played key roles in their evolution, but 'Stranger Things' with 196 million viewers over the time that we've been on the air, that's a lot of households. And it's unique in that Netflix service."

The filmmaker went on to say the streaming titan is eager to see if The Duffer Bros. have anymore stories to tell in the "Stranger Things" universe: "What's been made clear is there is an interest and a real voracious appetite for any offshoot, any other iteration format or extension of the franchise, the characters, the mythology. And certainly those conversations are hardly evolved, but they're also not non-existent." 

That doesn't exactly confirm a "Stranger Things" spin-off is in the works, of course, but the potential is obviously there if The Duffers find the right angle. As for what a "Stranger Things" spin-off might look like, well, your guess is as good as ours. Given how the "Stranger Things" narrative continues to expand with fresh faces and places every season, there are about a million different ways to go, and fans are no doubt as hungry as Netflix is to see any one of them.