The Duffer Brothers Want To 'Pass The Baton' To Someone Else For The Stranger Things Spin-Off, But Remain 'Very Involved'

Netflix has been floating the idea of a "Stranger Things" spin-off for a while now, and a continuation of the wildly successful big-budget saga feels like a no-brainer. Now, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have shared details about the future of the "Stranger Things" world, revealing that they plan to take more of a backseat in the upcoming project. The news comes via the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where the pair appeared to discuss the new season and future plans for the franchise.

"The idea, ultimately, is to pass the baton to someone else, someone who's hopefully really talented and passionate," Matt Duffer told the podcast. He explained that by the time "Stranger Things" concludes with its fifth and final season, it will have been in his life for nearly a decade. Though the creator says he's "loved every second of it," he's also ready for someone else to take the reins.

"Even the idea of Ross and I, say, doing a pilot and leaving it, it just feels silly to me," Matt Duffer explained. "You really need to be there from the beginning to end. I think we need to find a partner to help us with that." 

Concrete story details of any potential "Stranger Things" spin-off are still completely under wraps, with the pair previously mentioning that actor Finn Wolfhard is the only person involved in the flagship series who correctly guessed the premise of the proposed new show. Although the project seems to be in the idea stages now (even the folks at Netflix still don't know what it's about!), the massive success of "Stranger Things" seems like it should be enough to ensure the spin-off moves forward.

The Duffers do say they still "want to be very involved" with the new story that will come from their original idea, but they seem pretty certain about wanting to get some other creatives involved in the next iteration of the "Stranger Things" universe. "Hopefully we find that right person to pass the baton to while we go on to do new stuff," Ross Duffer said.

The pair didn't confirm any plot particulars for the spin-off, but Ross Duffer says that while the project technically shares "connective tissue" with the original series, to them, the most important connection will be "the storytelling sensibility." They also admit that spin-offs about existing main characters like Eleven or Dustin, or background characters like Dr. Brenner's other experiments, don't interest them. "We've done all that," Matt Duffer says. "So [the spin-off idea we have is] very different."