This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 5, including the finale, and the stage show, Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The Duffer brothers have confirmed that the upcoming Stranger Things spin-off will fully address and explain the purpose of the mysterious rock in the briefcase obtained by Henry Creel in the flashback sequence during the Season 5 finale. Some Stranger Things fans were left with more questions than answers regarding the briefcase rock following the series finale, but they can rest assured that all will be addressed in good time.
The Stranger Things series finale finally showed viewers Henry Creel revisiting his traumatic memories of how he initially gained his powers. After beating the owner of the briefcase to death, Henry opens the briefcase to find a mysterious rock. The rock glows, and merges with Henry upon inspection. It is the moment that Henry gains his connection with the Mind Flayer, getting his powers in the process, while facing his biggest fear. Despite being warned by the now-dead scientist that "It will consume you," it's still not clear where the rock came from, which has quickly led to speculation and questions among fans.
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Stranger Things Spin-Off Will Address The Purpose of The Rock in Henry's Briefcase
Fans will undoubtedly continue to speculate, but speaking to Variety after the finale, the Duffer brothers confirmed that answers will come in due time. Following a question about the briefcase rock, Matt Duffer said, "The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you’re going to understand it. But it’s a completely different mythology. So it’s not a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer or anything like that. It’s very fresh and very new, but yes, it will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining," while Ross Duffer confirmed that work on the upcoming Stranger Things spin-off is ongoing.
Matt Duffer then revealed that the live-action Stranger Things spin-off is going to be a "clean slate: completely new characters, new town, new world, new mythology," with "no common characters." With this in mind, it seems there might be a lot more to the lore of the briefcase rock than initially appears, so it will be interesting to see how it's woven into the story naturally, given there are going to be so few connecting threads elsewhere. There is more context to Henry's corruption in the stage show Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which may help fans connect the dots on the mystery surrounding the briefcase scene. However, given how few fans have seen it compared to the overall size of the audience, it's fair to suggest most will be waiting for the spin-off to get their answers.
The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you’re going to understand it.
It makes sense that the Stranger Things finale would opt to leave fans with as many questions as answers. As well as the strange briefcase rock, Stranger Things fans are debating what happened to Eleven, a conversation that will likely rage for many years to come unless the question is answered one way or the other. But these questions allow the show to live on way beyond its initial run, so it's good that not everything has a definitive answer right now.
Broadly, it seems as though the Duffers have stuck the landing with the ending of Stranger Things. Given the show's nine-year run and its massive mainstream growth over that time, it was always going to be an unenviable task to satisfy all fans, many of whom had their own theories about how it should end. Although the original show is finished, the franchise lives on. The upcoming live-action spin-off will put a fresh spin on the formula, while another spin-off, Stranger Things: Tales From '85, is an animated show set between Seasons 2 and 3, featuring more of the original characters' adventures, and will be released later this year.
- Release Date
- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Netflix
- Showrunner
- Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Cast
-
Millie Bobby BrownJane 'Eleven' Hopper -
Finn WolfhardMike Wheeler
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
- Writers
- Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
- Creator(s)
- Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
