It’s been almost a year since fans had to say goodbye to Stranger Things and deal with the controversial series finale. While the finale is still a hot topic from time to time and the animated spinoff is doing well, most people are moving on from Hawkins and looking towards something else. This includes the creators. Matt and Ross Duffer officially left Netflix in April after securing a four-year deal with Paramount. I’d been wondering just how Netflix is handling the breakup.
Following the end of Stranger Things, the Duffers didn’t waste any time moving on to the next show. Their first Stranger Things follow-up was the Haley Z. Boston-created unsettling Netflix horror miniseries Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen, on which they serve as executive producers. Also for Netflix, they did animated series Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 and The Boroughs. The former released its second season in September on the 2026 TV schedule, while the latter was canceled after one season over the summer. Now, after working on four shows at the streamer, the Duffer Brothers are moving on. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke about their exit while at Bloomberg’s Screentime, and he was nothing but understanding of the situation (via Deadline):
The Duffers have worked with us for the past decade, and they had a dream that they did not want to make more TV shows right now, they really want to make big tentpole theatrical movies. And I said to them, I told Matt and Ross, ‘You guys are great at what you do, and I think you should go do that. You’re 40, don’t wake up when you’re 60 wishing you did that 20 years later.’
For over 10 years, the Duffers were mostly working on television shows. They did Wayward Pines in 2015 and 2016, with Stranger Things taking up all their time for nine years. It makes sense that they’d want to shift their focus to something else, especially after releasing three more shows for Netflix, practically one right after the other this year. Sarandos had all the praise for Matt and Ross and made sure that everyone knew that their legacy and Stranger Things won’t be going anywhere:
I’m thrilled for them. They’re going to have great success, and they have great success. And the Stranger Things universe, they are going to continue to be a part of forever, and that’s fantastic.
With the Duffers moving to Paramount, their careers will carry on elsewhere. Over the summer, Variety reported that the brothers will write and direct a new movie that is slated for a wide theatrical release in November 2028. Details about the untitled film are being kept under wraps, but it will come from their production company, Upside Down Pictures.
Along with the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things executive producer and director Shawn Levy is also leaving Netflix after signing an overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television. Like the Duffers, Levy had been under a deal at Netflix for over a decade, and the end of Stranger Things continues to mark the end of an era. It wasn’t much of a surprise, though, as Levy has been pretty busy with other projects, so Sarandos is understanding. However, there are still some things to look forward to between Levy and Netflix:
Shawn also was with them, and kind of doing the same thing. The problem when you have an overall deal with someone who has commitments in other places is, you’re in constant conflict for their time. Shawn is going to be making Star Wars movies for a while, so the fact that his [TV] deal is with Disney makes a lot of sense. I’m thrilled for Shawn. We’re going to do a ton of things together, we still have shows in development together. We have a show called The Sticks coming up.
Netflix will soon be heading into a new post-Duffer Brothers era, and it’s hard to tell how that is going to go. While it’s exciting that Matt and Ross are working on movies now at Paramount, I can’t help but hope that they return to doing shows very soon. If anything, those with a Netflix subscription have a handful of Duffer shows to watch, including Stranger Things.
