“Stranger Things” may be coming to an end with its fifth and final season, but the franchise is far from over. In addition to the animated series “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85” coming in 2026, a live-action spinoff is in the works.

Although Matt & Ross Duffer are leaving Netflix for Paramount, the “Stranger Things” creators told Deadline that they’re actively working on the spinoff, which will introduce all-new characters to start with a clean slate.

“We are moving forward with it,” says Matt. “Netflix, they finally know what it is. We held it. They were so frustrated. We just would not tell them.”

“Now everybody at Netflix knows. They’re very excited behind it there,” Matt adds. “I’m really excited about the team we’ve assembled that I can’t talk about without potentially getting into trouble, but we’ll put out more information soon. We’re trying to get it to go pretty quickly. So hopefully it’s gonna happen soon.”

Matt explains, “The spinoff idea is something that Ross and I came up with that we’re extremely excited about. It’s quite different, though, than ‘Stranger Things.’ So I think the key is that it’s coming from a place of passion, whether it’s from us or from somebody else. It’s not an assignment. It’s not forced like that. You’ve just seen that too many times.

“The market, it’s diminishing returns at a certain point. You want it to feel special when it comes out. I want, if something’s coming out with a Stranger Things title on it, it’s good, it’s quality. So Ross and I are going to remain very, very involved, even though we’re going to be at Paramount. In fact, we’re busy working on the spinoff idea right now.”

Matt continues, “We want to be intentional and very careful in terms of how we expand, in that we’re not doing anything for the sake of doing it, for the sake of putting more Stranger Things out into the world. It has to be something that we’re extremely excited about.”

As for what’s ahead for the Duffer Brothers, they’re ready to leave the ’80s behind. “Whatever we do next, I’ll tell you this, it’s not going to be set in the ’80s. I think we’re done with the ’80s,” says Ross.

“Stranger Things” concludes on Netflix in three parts: four episodes on November 26, three episodes on December 25, and the series finale — also in theaters — on December 31. Each volume releases at 5pm PT/8pm ET.