Fans of Stranger Things panicked this week when a story broke on Moviefone claiming that Matt and Ross Duffer, the two brothers who created the hit Netflix series, would be leaving the show after season 3. The report caused concern amongst viewers around the globe: what would Stranger Things be without the minds that created it in the first place?
Thankfully, Netflix swooped in and saved the day. Entertainment Weekly reports that the streaming company quickly released a statement addressing the growing rumor and denied it completely. Netflix tweeted out a sly response to the incident that read, “Don’t drop your Eggos. Rumors that the Duffer Bros. are leaving Stranger Things after season 3 are false.”
Moviefone later attempted to correct the record by writing that the Duffer brothers might not be leaving completely, but are likely to step down as the showrunners of Stranger Things. But Entertainment Weekly shut this idea down as well.
Matt Duffer talked to Entertainment Weekly and admitted that he and his brother were getting creative offers from other studios, but insisted that they wanted to stick with Netflix and Stranger Things. “There hasn’t been anything dangled in front of us that’s been exciting enough [to leave]. To abandon this show before it’s done feels wrong to me,” he said. “I think we should land it.”
That being said, the Duffer brothers don’t anticipate Stranger Things lasting for that much longer. In an interview with Vulture this past summer, Ross Duffer said, “We’re thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out.” His brother Matt added, “I don’t know if we can justify something bad happening to [the kids] once a year.”
Stranger Things was renewed for third season in December. New episodes are expected to hit Netflix in 2019.