‘Stranger Things’ Showrunners Tease Season 5 and Future Projects at Next on Netflix

Netflix’s global Next on Netflix event took place yesterday, and teasing what’s to come were Matt and Ross Duffer, the two creators of the flagship series, Stranger Things. The duo stopped by with a new behind-the-scenes featurette and revealed new details about the final season and their other upcoming projects. 

Sadly, you won’t get any significant new videos or photos today (we don’t quite know why), but journalists at Next on Netflix, including myself, were treated to more behind-the-scenes footage of the new season. I’ll say two words: Get hyped. We got a first look at Linda Hamilton in military uniform and much more insight into the stakes for the upcoming season. It looks genuinely fantastic, and the scale of the sets and ambition this season are gigantic. The radio set, in particular, looks stunning. 

Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer globally, introduced the new behind-the-scenes sizzle alongside Matt and Ross Duffer onto the stage, citing that they’ve been working with Netflix for over a decade. 

Matt and Ross described the new season as “eight blockbuster movies. ” They recapped the production of season 5, which took the whole year of 2024. “It’s our most personal story,” Matt said. “There was a lot of crying. There was SO much crying. Everyone put their hearts and souls into it.”

Ross also revealed exactly how much footage they captured during that year-long shoot. “By the end, we’d captured over 650 hours of footage. So, needless to say, this is our biggest and most ambitious season yet.”

The pair talked about the future of Stranger Things, although not in much detail. “While this might be the end of the story for Mike, Hopper, Dustin, Lucas, Eleven, and the others, it’s not a goodbye for Stranger Things.”

The duo talked about the West End Show (which is fantastic), which is soon to hit Broadway. They also discussed more upcoming projects, one of which has been announced as a new animated series (codenamed Project Mirkwood, which has gotten a two-season commitment). Matt said that each spin-off and continuation would need to justify its existence, though. “It’s very important to us that anything with the Stranger Things name on it is of the highest quality… It needs to basically just be… awesome.”

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Duffers Two New Netflix Projects Will Debut in 2026

The Duffers are also working on two new projects at Netflix through their production company, Upside Down Pictures, which are currently in production. Bajaria stated that both are due out on Netflix in 2026. 

The Boroughs is the first project, a new sci-fi series from co-showrunners Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Amongst its cast includes Geena Davis, Jena Malone, Bill Pullman, and Alfred Molina. 

Ross said about the project, “It’s about a group of misfits who fight an otherworldly evil… Only this time, it’s set in a retirement community. ” Matt added, “It’s fun, scary, and touching, too, and we can’t wait for you to see it.”

The new horror series Something Very Bad is Going to Happen just entered production, and the duo spoke highly of what we can expect. “It follows a bride and groom in a chaotic, anxiety-filled week leading up to their wedding. The title is accurate. Bad things do happen,” Ross said. 

Sadly, both titles did have first-look pictures on the stage, but they haven’t been released to the public. 

Sadly, a release date was not announced for Stranger Things season 5 at Next on Netflix, although if you’ve been plugged in, we have a pretty good idea of when it’s coming. A leaked date from Netflix itself implied the new season is coming this Thanksgiving, while we got intel a few days later suggesting the series is eying a split release in October and November. More to come on this throughout the year, including at TUDUM, which is in Los Angeles in May 2025. 

Are you excited for the final season of Stranger Things? Let us know in the comments, and keep it locked on What’s on Netflix for the very latest.