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• After Stranger Things: The Duffer Bros. original plans for a sequel set in the 90s

Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers know what it’d take for them to make a sequel to the Netflix megahit — and the answer is “enough time for the actors to grow up to a place where their characters could convincingly have kids themselves,” as we’ve already shared. Thing is, that wasn’t always the case though. A sequel to Stranger Things was part of the initial pitch for the series, and the time jump suggested for that one was far shorter altogether.

Before Stranger Things was Stranger Things, it was Montauk — the original name for the project when it was initially being pitched to streamers and networks alike. (And, yes, that’s there’s an Easter Egg callout to this in the finale, when Hopper says that he’s been offered the sheriff’s job in Montauk.) The story that’s laid out in the initial pitch nonetheless is pretty close to Stranger Things’ first season, complete with all of the characters and their rough arcs, although the timeframe is different: it’s set in 1980, rather than the 1983 setting of the finished show. But one important thing is very different: it’s a story that was intended to wrap up entirely in eight episodes.

And then start again, a decade later.

Contained inside the original Montauk pitch are plans for a second story, set ten years after the first. “Even though Montauk is designed as a stand-alone eight-hour tale, the story can continue in subsequent installments,” the pitch explained. “The hypothetical sequel will take place in the same town, only ten years later, in the summer of 1990. Our kids will now be young adults with new lives, new problems; many of them will have moved out of Montauk, spread out across the country for school and work. But the re-emergence of horror in Montauk will bring them back to their hometown, where they will have no choice but to join forces again.”

If anyone is getting pretty big It: Chapter Two vibes right now, that’s probably not an accident, given the Duffer Brothers’ love of all things Stephen King.

The idea of Montauk 2 presents a fascinating glimpse at what could have been for Stranger Things — as we know, the sequel did happen, but it was set a year after the original, not a decade — and a potential signpost for a future of the franchise, should Netflix or fanfic writers want to take up the challenge. After all, there’s definitely some story potential in the question of where all the characters are in their lives a decade later… and a fanbase hungry enough to know more.

All of Stranger Things is available to stream on Netflix.

As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:

• How to watch Stranger Things in chronological or release order
• Getting to know the Stranger Things season 5 cast
• There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
• The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
• "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"