Believe the hype. You’ve likely heard by now one or more of your friends praising Netflix‘s “Stranger Things,” or perhaps come across any number of the strong critical notices, but yes, the show is that good. While the first season only runs eight episodes, it’s the perfect length, with the supernatural series refreshingly not spending countless episodes microscopically unraveling each mystery, but instead, choosing to push everything forward with a narrative that really moves. And, while the show wears it’s ’80s influences like an overcoat, it does something truly special with them, gives Winona Ryder the best role she’s had in ages, gives longtime character David Harbour a terrific spotlight, all wrapped up in one of the best TV events of the year. And if you’ve already watched the show, you know that first season ends with some terrific clues and openings for more, while also wrapping up a lot of what unfolds. And while Netflix has yet to officially order more episodes, the “Stranger Things” team is standing by and ready.
READ MORE: Prepare For ‘Stranger Things’ With First 8-Minutes From Netflix’s Hotly Buzzed New Series
While The Duffer Brothers created, executive produced and directed the majority of the episodes (and if big time Hollywood studios aren’t already knocking down their door, they will be), another name who got into the mix was Shawn Levy (“Night At The Museum,” “Date Night“), also as an executive producer and director. And speaking with Slashfilm, he reveals that there’s a blueprint for more “Stranger Things” if they get the go ahead.
“The answer is yes and yes. We definitely are hopeful to go several more seasons. And the plan is to continue with this set of characters while introducing a few critical key new ones next season,” he explained. “So I’ll just say that a lot of the big mysteries get answered at the end of Season 1, but we are very much kind of unearthing new problems and questions that merit future stories and future investigation in the most enjoyable way. So we are in love with our cast and our characters.”
“Things end up being resolved to some extent at the end of Season 1, but not entirely. And that’s why we’re so hopeful we get another few seasons to live with these people a little longer,” he added.
READ MORE: The 20 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of Summer 2016
**Spoilers ahead**
So, what might be coming? Speaking with Variety, Ross Duffer said there was a lot in the season finale, “The Upside Down,” they didn’t get explored, but that they hope to tackle down the road.
“There’s a lot there we don’t know or understand. Even with ‘The Upside Down,’ we have a 30-page document that is pretty intricate in terms of what it all means, and where this monster actually came from, and why aren’t there more monsters — we have all this stuff that we just didn’t have time for, or we didn’t feel like we needed to get into in season one, because of the main tension of Will. We have that whole other world that we haven’t fully explored in this season, and that was very purposeful,” he said.
“We leave these dangling threads at the end. If people respond to this show and we get to continue this story — we had those initial discussions of where we might go with it. If there was going to be a season two, we would reveal more of that 30 page document, but we’d still want to keep it from the point of view of our original characters,” he added.
Fascinating stuff, and Matt Duffer has also teased that the next chapters might not continue straight from the narrative of season one. “…we don’t answer all the questions by the end of the season — there are definitely some dangling threads. The hope is that it feels satisfying but that we left room and that if people respond to it we can go back into this world. But if we do get to go back, it’s not a second season as much as a sequel,” he told IGN.
All I know is, I want more from this world, and it’s certainly heartening to hear how much the Duffers have mapped, and more so, how they’re choosing to relay which information, and when.
“Stranger Things” is now streaming on Netflix.
