'Stranger Things' ending changed? Fans spot clues
'One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5,' which was dropped on Netflix on Monday, January 12, 2026, provided viewers a key clue as to how the final season was stitched together
January 14, 2026
Ever since the series finale of Stranger Things was released on Netflix, fans have been divided between rating it a good watch or becoming the keyboard warriors.
The internet sleuths have been buzzing with the whiteboard that showed a scene that featured the ‘original ending’ of the show, as they started comparing what’s on that board to what actually aired in the finale.
What are fans buzzing with?
Social media users who shared that whiteboard shot online say the scribbles indicate an earlier version of the finale that could have been filmed through a different lens.
One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, which was dropped on Netflix on Monday, January 12, 2026, provided viewers a key clue as to how the final season was stitched together, but one brief office shot is all anyone can talk about.
On that board, some fans think there's a note about Eleven being “gone” instead of clearly dead, which they see as opening the door for her to have survived in some way.
While others are also referencing old plan ideas that might have involved relationships and battles that didn’t appear in the final cut.
However, fans are convinced that previous scripts included Hopper helping Eleven fake her death, along with character confrontations that were later edited.
Whatever the board actually says, a brief scene has fans speculating online wildly, treating it like an alternate ending that’s missing from the Netflix version.
The whiteboard frenzy is fueled by the backdrop of a heavy backlash against the final season of Stranger Things since its premiere last year.
Audiences weren’t buzzed with the character picks, pricing, and especially the most vague way Eleven’s story concluded.
Another significant reason why this whiteboard glimpse landed in hot water is that the documentary confirmed what many fans guessed: the finale wasn’t finished when production started.
The Duffer Brothers' big confession that they started the production of Season 5 without a finished script for the finale, a move fans see as chaotic, not calculated.
