Key Takeaways
- Finale confirmed: The Duffer brothers have stated that the story of Stranger Things is complete.
- Future projects: There is an animated series and a live-action spinoff in development.
- Character updates: The main characters have moved on with their lives after the finale.
- Limited involvement: The Duffer brothers will not be showrunning the spinoff but will remain involved.
Well, Stranger Things fans, the Upside Down has been detonated, and our favorite friend group is moving on with their lives. As long as you watched the season 5 finale, you should know that the tear-jerking, 2-hour episode had a bittersweet conclusion for all characters, especially Eleven. But is the show really over?
Maybe so, but this is still the era of sequels, prequels, reboots and spinoffs! Therefore, the possibility of a continuation is never out of the question for any TV series.
Find out if there’s any hope for the Stranger Things universe to continue or if its season 5 finale was really the end.
Is Stranger Things Really Over?
Yes, at least for the main group of friends, the Duffer brothers confirmed that Stranger Things is over. During an October 2025 interview with Variety, Matt Duffer confirmed that the whole story is “done.”
“We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters,” he noted, adding, “This is a complete story. It’s done.”
Is There a Stranger Things Spinoff or Sequel Series?
Though the Duffer brothers said that the season 5 finale wraps up the story, there is still the animated series, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Moreover, the creators confirmed that they were in the “early days” of a “live-action spinoff.”
“We’re very early days on a live-action spinoff. But this is the end of the story for these characters of Hawkins, for the Upside Down,” Ross Duffer explained. “It’s a different decade and different characters, but of course, still connected to the Stranger Things universe.”
Ross added that this spinoff is “an idea we’ve had for years and something we’re just really excited and passionate about.”
However, the brothers will not be as “heavily involved” in the spinoff as they were with Stranger Things.
“We won’t be showrunning that show, but we’ll be heavily involved,” Ross noted. “So, as the new year comes around, we’re going to start spending more time on that. Hopefully it’s something announced soon-ish.”
What Happens in the Stranger Things Finale?
Eighteen months after the Upside Down is destroyed, the main crew moves forward with their lives. Max is with Lucas; Hopper is now a stepfather for Joyce’s kids; Dustin is the valedictorian of the graduating class; Steve is a high school sex-education teacher and a baseball coach, the same team that Derek is a catcher for.
Nancy left Emerson to pursue a job in journalism; Robin is studying at Smith; Jonathan is making a film at NYU, and Eleven seems to have found a new town to settle in, according to the story that Mike tells during Dungeons and Dragons.
