Why Stranger Things Doesn’t Need Spinoffs After Season 5 Ends

screenrant.com:

Stranger Things is set to receive numerous spinoffs after the show wraps up with season 5, but it doesn’t need any of them. Since its debut in 2016, Stranger Things has become one of Netflix’s most successful original series, combining coming-of-age dramedy with a small-town sci-fi horror mystery and making stars of its multigenerational cast. But all good things must come to an end. After Stranger Things season 4 is released in two parts during the summer of 2022, the fifth and final season will provide the show with its long-awaited conclusion. However, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has announced the plan for Stranger Things spinoffs to keep stories centered around Hawkins and the Upside Down going strong.

Back in March, Stranger Things director and executive producer Shawn Levy told Screen Rant that he didn’t want to stretch the creators' vision beyond its natural end. He also reiterated Ross and Matt Duffer's long-promised claim that the show they started has always had a clear plan for its conclusion, ever since its pilot episode. If this is indeed true, then the question of whyStranger Things needs numerous spinoffs should be revisited. It is understandable that some fans will want to see more from the show’s mysterious setting, its likable heroes, and the rogues gallery ofStranger Things villains, but comfort with the material isn't enough to build a spinoff on— let alone multiple spinoffs.

Related: Superheroes & Stranger Things Could Ruin Stephen King’s Firestarter Remake

For a Stranger Things continuation to work, it needs to expand on the existing fictional universe and fill in blanks left behind by the original series. Yet Stranger Things has thus far ensured that the show has left (and will leave) behind