Stranger Things creators issue apology as Netflix cancels their next show

It's hard not to agree that we're in a renaissance of television, with the likes of Severance, Fallout, IT: Welcome to Derry, The Beast in Me, and Alien: Earth just being just some of the stellar shows that have graced our screens in 2025.

With all of these coming from different streaming services, it's getting harder than ever to pick which one gets our hard-earned money every month. These Goliaths of the screen continue to jostle for top place as they shove their catalogs of movies and original TV series in our faces, and despite some tough competition, Netflix remains king of the castle.

Although some might think price hikes and a crackdown on password sharing would clip the streaming giant's wings, it seems no one can touch it. It's set to become even bigger if the colossal Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition goes through, and who knows, in a few years, could we be sitting down to watch James Gunn's Justice League on the Big N?

We've come a long way from Netflix pushing Blockbuster out of the market (RIP) with its postal DVD offering, and in 2025, it's largely kept alive by a raft of original programming and deals with major directors like Rian Johnson, Zack Snyder, and Guillermo del Toro.

Despite complaints that Stranger Things is losing momentum with its somewhat baffling release of season 5 in several volumes, there's no denying the skill of creators Matt and Ross Duffer. It might be true that Stranger Things Season 5 has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating of the show's entire run, thanks to Vol. 2 dragging down scores, but when that's a still impressive 84% from critics (audiences aren't as kind), that's nothing to be sniffed at.

If the Duffer Brothers weren't busy enough batting away accusations of on-set bullying, rumors of 'missing' episodes, and fans being genuinely gross toward the cast, they're also dealing with a tragic loss.

While the Duffer Brothers' CV is largely consumed by Stranger Things and the upcoming Stranger Things: Tales from '85 animated series, they also directed 2015's Hidden and wrote some of the short-lived Wayward Pines. As well as another Netflix sci-fi series called The Boroughs on the way, Matt and Ross Duffer were due to tackle an adaptation of Stephen King's The Talisman for the streaming service. Emphasis on the 'was' part of that.

Speaking to CBR, Ross Duffer confirmed The Talisman isn’t on the horizon for him and Matt: "Sadly, Talisman is no longer at Netflix, so we're not involved."

Discussing the decision, Matt added; "I think it was probably naive of us to think we could break The Talisman."

The Talisman had already been in the works for a while, with Ross continuing: "When I interned, when I was really, you know, back in college at Kennedy Marshall, I remember reading, I think it was a movie script for Talisman. So it's been in development forever, so I'm sorry that we were not the ones to break the curse."

Written by King and Peter Straub, The Talisman was released in 1985 and follows 12-year-old Jack Sawyer, who heads into a magical world called the Territories while in search of the mystical artefact, which he thinks can save his dying mother.

A live-action adaptation has been in the works for decades, but as the Duffers have reminded us, it's a tough nut to crack.

While the Duffers won't be wearing The Talisman around their necks, there's plenty of potential in spin-offs and more when it comes to Stranger Things. Either way, it doesn't sound like they're leaving the Upside Down just yet.