As Stranger Things closes the book on its final season, star Gaten Matarazzo has hinted that a potential spinoff could show what the characters will be up to decades from now.
Filming for Stranger Things season 5 is nearly complete, meaning Netflix’s biggest original series will end eight years after it first aired in 2016.
While fans will have to say goodbye to their favorite Hawkins citizens, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have been upfront about their desire to keep the franchise going with various spin-offs.
And one of these branches could follow one of the main groups of children into adulthood as Matarazzo said RadioTimes: “I’d love to see, potentially, if there’s a continuation of Dustin after [Season] 5, if any of us can do it. I’d love to see what would happen, what Dustin would look like at 30. It could be a lot of fun.
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He continued: “I would love to see what their concept would be, but yes, I’m absolutely open to anything.”
It’s possible that Matarazzo is being tight-lipped about his character’s future in the upcoming season, as there’s a huge possibility that some major characters won’t make it to the series finale.
The last time Stranger Things fans left the group, Max Mayfield was in a coma, on the verge of death, after a tense confrontation with the series’ main antagonist, Vecna.
And, as the final season will follow the group as they attempt to save Hawkins and the world from the clutches of the Upside Down Demon, the series could experience its first real series of major character losses.
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, has been vocal about her wish that the show would eliminate members of the main cast, developer The Wrap in a May 2022 interview: “We have to have the mindset of Game of Thrones. Kill me! They tried to kill David [Harbour] and they brought him back! This is ridiculous… The Duffer brothers are sensitive Sallies who don’t want to kill anyone.
Matt Ross later refuted Brown’s claims at a press conference in July 2022. appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in which he explained that every death up until season 5 served a “thematic” and “narrative purpose” because they didn’t want to exploit a major loss.
However, with the fate of everyone’s favorite teen and tween group still up in the air, a Dustin spinoff may not be in the cards.
But fans shouldn’t be disappointed by the underwhelming ending to the lovable idiot’s arc, as Matarazzo explains: “It’s definitely going to be a book-ending. I think it’s going to end really well.”
“And I don’t think Matt Ross wants to commit to that kind of thing for a long time. So if you asked me in a year if I wanted to come back, I’d probably say, ‘I’m going to do other things for a while at first,’ but who knows what that’s going to be.”
While you wait for Stranger Things season 5, check out our list of the best TV shows of 2024 so far and stay up to date on new TV shows airing this month.
