Stranger Things fans, we know you’re as hungry for Season 5 secrets as Argyle is for a slice of Surfer Boys Hawaiian pizza. 

Luckily, during WGFestival 2022, series co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer served up some tasty tidbits to keep viewers satisfied. For one thing, the Duffer brothers revealed that upcoming episodes — including the hotly anticipated series finale — will connect to past seasons in an unexpected way. 

When Stranger Things became a hit during its first season back in 2016, the writer-directors quickly realized expansion was necessary. “The success of Season 1 freaked us out and then we knew we needed to build up this bigger world, that this was going to be ongoing,” said Ross. That meant prep for Season 2 included filling up a whiteboard with every idea the writers’ room could imagine.

“But it was way too much — [five times] more ideas than we needed, or [ten times],” said Ross. But all those extra possibilities haven’t gone to waste. “For Season 5, we're pulling from a lot of those big Season 2 ideas… A lot of our big ending stuff has pulled from stuff that we thought was going to be in Season 2.” 

Of course, the Duffers remain mum on exactly which leftover ideas they may be “cherry-picking” from Season 2 — which explores Will’s (Noah Schnapp) connection to the Upside Down and Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) past at Hawkins Lab — for Stranger Things’ upcoming farewell season. But the brothers did talk in-depth about their writing process for Season 5, which differs from their prior approaches. Due to COVID breaks, the Duffers had time to outline Season 5 before Season 4 was shot, edited and released. Then, once they got feedback on Season 4 from collaborators and fans alike, they returned to their pre-written plan for the future of Stranger Things. 

“We reread the document,” said Matt. “We’re like, ‘That’s cool, that’s cool. That could be a lot better. That could be a lot better.’” The brothers then rewrote the outline and pitched their new vision to Netflix. “Even the ending is a little bit different [now],” added Matt, noting that not everything has changed: “A lot of the big ideas are the same, but the stuff that happens within, it's very different.” 

While we continue our wait for Stranger Things Season 5 — including its new and improved ending — just know that fidget toys and sound machines were an integral part of the writing process. 

Keep coming back to Tudum for Stranger Things news hot enough to scare a Demogorgon.