Stranger Things will run “four or five seasons,” according to showrunners

Stranger Things will run for a few more seasons following its second this fall, showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer confirmed today.

Matt Duffer told Entertainment Weekly that he didn’t want to have a series end on a sour note after being kept around past its due date. Ideally, according to him, the series will have a finite ending and Netflix will let them call the shots.

“I don’t want it to be one of those shows that runs out of gas and they lose it because they’re losing interest,” Matt Duffer said. “You wanna end when you’re on top.”

Ross Duffer expanded on the decision, adding that although ideally the show wouldn’t last longer than five seasons, the series could go longer depending on how the plot progressed. If there was a reason to continue past five seasons and it served both the audience and the show, they wouldn’t say no to extending the series.

Before Netflix picked up Stranger Things — after 19 other networks reportedly passed on it — it was supposed to be a one season anthology show, but the Duffers figured out how to keep the series going.

The new season, which marks the return of Will Byers to mainstream society after spending time in the Upside Down, premieres on Netflix this Halloween.