Stranger Things creators tease emotional Season 5: “We made Netflix cry”

Stranger Things Season 5, the final season of the beloved show, won’t pull any punches – according to the creators, it’s already made Netflix executives cry.

Netflix’s era of dominance truly began in 2016 with the launch of Stranger Things. While the streaming platform has seen major successes elsewhere, it remains its flagship IP, with each season dominating the charts.

Just look at Season 4: Kate Bush got her first number in over four decades because of Running Up That Hill, it felt like everyone and their mum was mourning Eddie Munson, and countless websites and retailers sold Hellfire Club merchandise – and sold out quickly.

Season 5 will bring Stranger Things to an end, with fans speculating over who will die, survive, and possibly come back – whatever happens, it looks like we should bring tissues.

Stranger Things creators made Netflix execs cry with Season 5 pitch

We’re at least a year-and-a-half away from Stranger Things Season 5, but the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy are already teasing what’s to come.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the creative team joined Patton Oswald for a Q&A in Los Angeles, alongside Caleb McLaughlin, Joseph Quinn, Jamie Campbell Bower, Priah Ferguson, Eduardo Franco, and Millie Bobby Brown, where they gave a few hints of what to expect in the final season.

Netflix

“We turned in the first script a couple of weeks ago and we’re onto the second. It’s full steam ahead,” Ross Duffer.

“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,” Matt joked.

Levy then said: “Those were different tears. As a witness and having been in that two-hour pitch room and having read this first script – I’m paralyzed with fear that I’ll spoil anything.

“But I will say the thing about these Duffer Brothers is that even though the show has gotten so famous and the characters have gotten so iconic and there’s so much about the ’80s and the supernatural and the genre, it’s about these people, it’s about these characters. Season 5 is already so clearly taking care of these stories of the characters because that’s always been the lifeblood of Stranger Things.”

Stranger Things final season will be a “culmination”

Ross reminisced about being “amazed” at the creative freedom they were afforded on Season 1, and how they started working on an “overall plan” in Season 2.

“Season 2 was when we really, with the writers, we developed an overall plan and a backstory for all of this and make sure that, with the Upside Down, everything about what it was,” he said.

“But 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.”

Ross described Season 5 as “a culmination of all of the seasons, so it’s sort of got a little bit from each, whereas before each season was so distinctly — three, this is our big summer blockbuster season with our big monster; four was the psychological horror.”

“I think that what we’re trying to do is go back to the beginning a little bit in the tone of one, but scale-wise it’s more in line with what four is. Hopefully it’s got a little bit of everything.”

You can find out more about Stranger Things Season 5 here.