Stranger Things recently wrapped up its divisive fifth season with a finale that's been praised and panned in equal measure. While some appreciated Eleven's ambiguous send-off, others feel the Duffer Brothers left far too many unanswered questions in an already bloated send-off for the long-running series.
Love or hate how Stranger Things concluded, there's more to come from the show this year. Netflix has announced a new behind-the-scenes documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, which promises to unravel at least some of the show's secrets with new interviews and more.
Addressing the making-of special's launch on January 12 in a press release, Matt and Ross Duffer said:
"Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, we dreamed of becoming filmmakers—but Hollywood felt impossibly far away. Everything changed when we watched the behind-the-scenes documentaries for The Lord of the Rings— on-the-ground films that showed the real nuts and bolts of how a massive production actually gets made. We saw how stressed Peter Jackson was and thought: yep, that’s the dream."
"With the decline of physical media, that kind of behind-the-scenes storytelling has largely disappeared. We wanted to bring it back. One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5—beautifully captured and directed by Martina Radwan—is our attempt to do just that. If you love Stranger Things, or if you’re simply curious how a major Hollywood production comes to life, this one’s for you."
While this looks like it will only be a must-watch for Stranger Things super-fans, it was perhaps inevitable that Netflix would figure out a way to bring more of the franchise to our screens (the Duffers are already in the midst of developing a spin-off) sooner rather than later.
Following the final episode's release on December 31, the Duffer Brothers spoke with several outlets about how the story wrapped up. Frustratingly, their answers were either vague or largely dismissive when apparent plot holes were presented to them.
Talking to Josh Horowitz, Matt asked that fans "cut him some slack." He said, "I really shouldn't have done any of these postmortem interviews. I am not in a good place. Like, why the hell did we do any of them yesterday is beyond me. I'm, like, fried. I was getting over the flu. So, anyone mad at any answers we gave you yesterday, just cut me some slack."
Created by The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things debuted in 2016 and quickly became one of Netflix’s most popular television series ever, with its fourth season alone amassing over 140.7M views globally. Rooted in ‘80s nostalgia, it boosted Kate Bush’s track "Running Up That Hill" into the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in its 38-year history.
The series has also garnered over 70 awards worldwide, including Emmys and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and has been nominated for over 230 awards.
Check out the trailer for One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 in the players below (via SFFGazette.com).