“Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer are shutting down at least one fan theory about the upcoming ending to their blockbuster Netflix series. On the red carpet for the new “Stranger Things” play in London, the duo went on record to Metro saying the series will not end with a reveal that all the events in the Upside Down were just a dream.
One fan theory about the “Stranger Things” ending alleges all the events on screen during the show’s run were actually just the main characters playing an elaborate and very long game of Dungeons and Dragons, a favorite among the characters since the show’s first season.
“No,” Matt said bluntly when the fan theory was brought up.
“That would be the equivalent of, ‘That’s all a dream,’” Ross added. “No, I assure you that is not how we’re going to end the show. We’ve known where we’ve been going for a while. And we feel comfortable with it; hopefully, it satisfies everyone. We’ll see.”
While the strikes delayed the production of “Stranger Things” Season 5, cameras are finally set to start rolling in January. Main cast members Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gates Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke and Priah Ferguson are all expected to return. “Terminator” star Linda Hamilton is joining the cast for Season 5, while “Prey” and “10 Cloverfield Lane” director Dan Trachtenberg will be helming at least one episode.
“Stranger Things” executive producer and director Shawn Levy told Total Film magazine earlier this year that Season 5 will only expand the scale of the already-humongous Season 4.
“There’s no way to be contiguous with Season 4, and not, frankly, expand scale and depth,” Levy said. “It’s major, major, cinematic storytelling that happens to be called a TV series. ‘Stranger Things 5‘ is as big as any of the biggest movies that we see.”
Harbour, who has played Hopper since the pilot episode, told the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in August that he knows how the Duffer Brothers will end the show.
“I know where we net out and it’s very, very moving,” Harbour said. “That is the term I will use … It’s a hell of an undertaking, too. I mean, the set pieces and the things in the scripts that we saw are bigger than anything we’ve done in the past.”
With production on “Stranger Things 5” kicking off in January, it’s not yet known if the final season will begin streaming on Netflix by the end of 2024 or sometime in 2025.