Production on Stranger Things season 5 seems to be moving full steam ahead. At a recent event, the Duffer Brothers explained more about their goals when writing season 5, and where they're at in the production cycle.
Stranger Things has had different influences throughout its run. While season one borrowed heavily from films such as E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jaws, season 2 drew from inspirations like The Exorcist, Gremlins, and Ghostbusters. Season 3 was a big summer blockbuster, while season 4 was a psychological horror in the vein of Nightmare on Elm Street (complete with a Stranger Things cameo from Robert Englund).
At an event reported on by The Hollywood Reporter, the Duffer Brothers revealed some information about season 5 of the show. Firstly, Ross Duffer remarked, “We turned in the first script a couple of weeks ago and we’re onto the second. It’s full steam ahead." He then acknowledged, "we do have quite a bit more to get in. But just as important as the supernatural, we have so many characters now — most who are still living — and it’s important to wrap up those arcs. A lot of these characters have been growing since season one so it’s a balancing act between giving them time to complete their character arcs and also tying up loose ends and doing our final reveals.”
Duffer stated that he felt heartened by the response the brothers received from executives at Netflix. "We did get our executives to cry, which I felt was a good sign that these executives were crying. The only other times I’ve seen them cry were like budget meetings,” he said as the crowd laughed. He explained that Stranger Things is all about its characters, and giving them proper endings is the Duffer Brother's main goal. He also said that the two of them wanted to return to the beginning of the show. “I think that what we’re trying to do is go back to the beginning a little bit in the tone of [season] one, but scale-wise it’s more in line with what [season] four is,” he added. “Hopefully it’s got a little bit of everything.”
The final season won't be the last hurrah for the universe, however. The Duffer Brothers have previously stated that Finn Wolfhard is the only person to have correctly guessed the plot of their Stranger Things spinoff. Like season 5 of the show, details about the potential spinoff have been kept tightly under wraps.
Netflix has also previously revealed the Stranger Things season 5 premiere title, which is set to be titled "The Crawl." It looks like the season has a lot of ground to cover, and the brothers have previously intimated that the show will start right in the middle of the action next season. Given that the fourth season ended on a massive cliffhanger, this comes as no surprise.
Stranger Things seasons 1-4 are on Netflix.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter