Stranger Things Writers Shut Down Millie Bobby Brown Spinoff Rumor

After a report claimed that Millie Bobby Brown was set to reprise her role as Eleven for a Stranger Things spinoff, the creative team chimed in with the truth. Here's what they said.

By Alyssa Ray Feb 02, 2023 9:35 PMTags
Watch: Stranger Things' David Harbour "Knows Everything" About Final Season

As Eleven previously said, "Friends don't lie."

Which explains why the official Twitter account for the writers' room of Stranger Things shut down a rumor that Millie Bobby Brown was slated to star in an unnamed spinoff. After a Feb. 1 report claimed that the previously announced Stranger Things spinoff will center on Hawkins' telekinetic heroine, the writers simply responded on Twitter, "Not true."

This isn't the first time that the minds behind Stranger Things have had to shut down speculation about the spinoff, which was first teased in February 2022. In fact, creators Matt and Ross Duffer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast in July that their next series will be "very different" from the Netflix hit.

"I've read these rumors that there's gonna be an Eleven spinoff, that there's gonna be a Steve (Joe Keery) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) spinoff or that it's another number," Matt said at the time. "That's not interesting to me because we've done all that. We've spent I don't know how many hours exploring all of that."

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Stranger Things Kids Through the Years

The only person to know the truth about the spinoff? Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard.

The actor recently revealed how the Duffer Brothers reacted to his correct pitch for a spinoff. "We were on set filming Stranger Things four and we were all joking like, 'Oh they're all going to have us back in 20 years,'" he said on a Jan. 11 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. "We're all going to be fat and old and being like ‘Eleven, where are you?' You know, that kind of thing.'"

"I was like, ‘Oh, but if you guys are actually going to do a spinoff, it should be this," he continued. "I said it and the Duffers looked at each other and looked at me and they were like, ‘Can we talk to you for a second?'"

As Finn recalled, the showrunners pulled him aside and said, "'That is the idea. Who told you?'"

"I was like, ‘No one,'" he shared. "They were like, ‘What do you mean, you just came up with it?' I was like, ‘Well, no, I just thought that that would be a cool way to kind of expand.'"

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Understandably, the Duffer Brothers swore Finn to secrecy.

While details about the spinoff are locked down more than Hawkins Laboratory, we do have some updates to share about Stranger Things' fifth and final season. Keep reading:

Farewell Forever?

While Max's fate is still up in the air, Matt and Ross Duffer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) is dead "for real this time." As they said, "He's toast."

Same goes for Eddie (Joseph Quinn), who sacrificed himself to the Demobats to buy time for the rest of the kids fighting. Joseph told E! News he's still hoping to reappear in the show, saying, "I'd be very up for it. But yeah, let's see."

As for Max (Sadie Sink), the brothers aren't giving up on her just yet. "She's brain dead, but yeah, she's alive," they said. "She's blind and all of her bones are broken." 

Max's Future

While Max is technically still alive, there's no knowing if she'll ever wake up from her coma. "I have no idea what's coming in five and what that looks like," Sadie said in an interview with Deadline. "Max's storyline is very up in the air, 'cause obviously she's in a coma and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) can't find her in the void. So who knows where she is and what state she's in."

The Love Triangle

Even Natalia Dyer is confused about who Nancy belongs with. On one hand, she thinks Nancy and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are a good match, but she also sees that Steve (Joe Keery) has grown up. And there's a part of her that thinks Nancy shouldn't be with either one of them. "It's really tough," she told Variety. "I don't know. It feels like she's been in a relationship for a while so maybe she needs some self discovery time."

She continued, "Whatever happens, I would hope that she does it with integrity. I personally had some crunchy feelings about how the whole Jonathan thing started sort of behind Steve's back. I can't believe she did that. I mean, I can."

Will and Vecna

In the season finale, Will (Noah Schnapp) confirmed he and Vecna are still connected after they were linked to each other in season two. When asked if fans will see the two characters interact in season five, Jamie Campbell Bower told E! News, "We all know by now that Vecna and Will have history. So it would be a joy to to get back in there, as I'll gently put it."

In fact, Jamie remained secretive throughout the entire interview, but promised the Duffers have got it all thought out. "My lips are sealed," he said. "You'll have to wait and see. I think Matt and Ross got something beautiful cooking and they'll let us know in good time."

Goodbye, California

While Joyce (Winona Ryder), Will (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) initially sought to start anew in California, it seems the Byers family is missing Hawkins and their hometown friends. So, they're leaving their California home and returning to Indiana, alongside Hopper and Eleven, in season five.

"It's mostly in Hawkins, and there's a lot obviously in the Upside Down," Matt Duffer told Collider about their season five plans. "But this is about everyone finally coming back. Coming back together, coming back to Hawkins.

Production Plans

The Duffer Brothers have mostly planned out season five, the final installment, but there's no knowing when filming will begin. 

"This last season took two years in total, so who knows how long season five will take," Sadie Sink told Deadline. "The Duffers definitely know the fans will be eagerly awaiting a fifth season, but I don't think they're gonna rush it. They wanna make the best final season that they could possibly make."

They may not rush the process, but it seems they're cutting down on the amount of scenes in the final season. The Duffer Brothers promised the upcoming episodes will be slightly shorter, though they anticipate the finale is going to be another feature-length episode. 

"The only reason we don't expect to be as long is, this season, if you look at it, it's almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery," Matt Duffer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, they're struggling with adapting to high school and so forth, Steve's trying to find a date, all of that. None of that is obviously going to be occurring [in season 5]."

Production is Officially Underway

On Jan. 8, Netflix confirmed that production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is underway by sharing a sweet group photo of the Hawkins crew. 

"THIS IS A CODE RED," the streaming service announced on social media. "STRANGER THINGS 5 production has officially begun!!!"

All Will Be Answered

In an exclusive interview with E! News, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy promised that season five "will answer all remaining questions," adding, "we are in the business of satisfying viewers."

The Beginning of the End

On Nov. 6, fondly known as Stranger Things Day, Netflix revealed that the first episode of the final season will be titled, "Chapter One: The Crawl."

It Ends With Will

It appears that Will Byers will be the key to how Stranger Things wraps up its run on Netflix. On what fans can expect from the final season, star Noah Schnapp teased to Forbes, "I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to. The way they closed the show is just perfect—the story started with Will, and it'll end with Will."

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