For the fifth and final season of “ Stranger Things ,” creators Matt and Ross Duffer (as they explained in interviews for Variety ’s Oct. 15 cover story ) did not want to leave any major plot threads or character arcs unfinished. “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,” Matt Duffer said. “This is a complete story. It’s done .”

That kind of definitive statement only makes the Duffers’ plans for a “Stranger Things” spinoff show — first announced in summer 2022 after the release of “Stranger Things 4″ — more intriguing, because whatever the spinoff is, it won’t continue the story of any of the show’s characters. Nor do the brothers expect it to explore a larger narrative

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