Stranger Things Creators Preview Their New Netflix Shows (But Are They Connected?)

The Duffer Brothers are going from the Upside Down suburbs of Hawkins, Indiana, to the boroughs of New Mexico. The Stranger Things creators teased the new Netflix series The Boroughs at the Next on Netflix 2025 event this week, revealing that the series — created by The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance co-creators Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews — is a spiritual successor to their teen-focused supernatural sci-fi series, which airs its fifth and final season later this year on the streamer.

“The Boroughs probably shares the most DNA with Stranger Things because it’s about a group of misfits who fight an otherworldly evil,” Matt Duffer said of the upcoming sci-fi series they’re executive producing via their Upside Down Pictures. “Only unlike Stranger Things, it’s set in a retirement community, so that’s something different. This time our misfits are a little on the older side. They ride golf carts, not bikes.”

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Per the synopsis, The Boroughs “takes place in a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, where a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have: time.”

“It stars Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman, and a host of other screen icons who we’re obsessed with,” Duffer added. “We’ve seen the first three episodes, and we’re really pumped about it. It’s fun, scary, and touching too, and we can’t wait for you to see it.”

The eight-episode sci-fi/supernatural drama stars Alfred Molina (Spider-Man: No Way Home) as Sam, Geena Davis (Beetlejuice) as Renee, Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage) as Judy, Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story) as Wally, Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) as Lilly, Clarke Peters (The Wire) as Art, and Bill Pullman (Independence Day) as Jack.

Additional cast members include Jena Malone (The Hunger Games) as Claire, Carlos Miranda (Station 19) as Paz, Seth Numrich (Under the Banner of Heaven) as Blaine, Alice Kremelberg (The Sinner) as Anneliese, Rafael Casal (Loki) as Neil, Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as Grace, Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul) as Edward, Eric Edelstein (Twin Peaks: The Return) as Hank, and Mousa Hussein Kraish (American Gods) as Dr. McGinnis.

As part of the overall deal they signed with Netflix in 2022, the Duffers are producing the wedding-themed horror series Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, which “follows a bride and groom in a chaotic, anxiety-filled week leading up to their wedding,” Ross Duffer said.

“It dives into the horror and dread that often comes with making a lifelong commitment to someone — something that anyone who’s ever been in a relationship can definitely relate to,” he added. “We don’t want to say too much more about the story yet — but the title is accurate. Bad things do happen.”

The original project comes from Netflix’s Brand New Cherry Flavor and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities scribe Haley Z. Boston, who serves as executive producer and showrunner.

“This is her first show, and she is a major new talent, we think, as are the stars of the show — Camila Morrone and Adam DiMarco — and the director, Weronika Tofilska, who recently directed a little show you may have heard of called Baby Reindeer,” Matt said.

The Hilary Leavitt-run Upside Down Pictures was established to create the kind of stories that inspired the Duffers growing up: “Stories that take place at that beautiful crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where big spectacle co-exists with intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism,” the duo said in a statement when the company was formed in 2022.

Besides The Boroughs and Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, Upside Down Pictures has announced a new live-action adaptation of Death Note, Netflix and Amblin’s series adaptation of the Peter Straub and Stephen King novel The Talisman, the Stranger Things stage play, an untitled Stranger Things animated series, and a live-action Stranger Things spinoff series.

The Boroughs and Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen are expected to premiere in 2026 on Netflix.