Stranger Things Season 5 to Utilize Unused Ideas From Season 2
The debut season of Netflix's Stranger Things was a tremendous success, which resulted in series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, along with their writers, throwing out a number of ideas for what to explore in Season 2, and while many of those concepts were scrapped, the Duffers confirmed that some of those ideas were salvaged and built into the upcoming final season of the series. This is sure to spark speculation among fans about what elements were only teased and never fully explored, but knowing that there are parallels to that beloved storyline will likely inspire excitement among audiences. The final season of Stranger Things likely won't debut on Netflix until 2024.
"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," Ross Duffer detailed to Netflix's Tudum. "That meant prep for Season 2 included filling up a whiteboard with every idea the writers' room could imagine. 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."
While the Duffers have been planning for years how long the series would run, back when Season 2 was being developed, the sky seemed like it was the limit for their ideas. With only one batch of episodes left, this means that the narrative will likely have to be throttled down to give a fulfilling sendoff, as opposed to how previous seasons of opened up the world of Hawkins, Indiana and the Upside Down in unexpected ways.
Bringing in ideas from Season 2 of the series isn't the only way the upcoming final season will honor the origins of the franchise, as the Duffers previously detailed that Season 5 will tonally mirror Season 1.
"[Season 5], the way we see it, is kind of a culmination of all the seasons, so it's sort of got a little bit from each," Ross Duffer shared at a FYC event earlier this month. "Whereas before each season was so distinctly... [Season] 3 is our big summer blockbuster season with big monsters, and [Season] 4 was the psychological horror. I think that what we're trying to do is go back to the beginning a little bit, in sort of the tone of 1."
Stay tuned for details on the future of Stranger Things.
Are you looking forward to the final season? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!