The Duffer Brothers Admit That ‘The Boroughs’ Shares DNA With ‘Stranger Things’ As They Preview 2 New Series For Netflix
Ever since word of The Boroughs, a new series produced by Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers, first got out more than two years ago, the supernatural/horror drama was referred to as “Stranger Things at a retirement home.”
Netflix pushed back at that description and the link between the two shows. At the streamer’s Next on Netflix 2025 slate presentation Wednesday, the Duffers made the connection themselves, revealing for the first time that, like their Stranger Things counterparts, the characters in The Burroughs will be battling “otherworldly evil.”
The Duffers made the comments while speaking about two upcoming series from their Upside Down Pictures, The Boroughs and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen.
“Of the two projects, The Boroughs probably shares the most DNA with Stranger Things because it’s about a group of misfits who fight an otherworldly evil,” Matt Duffer said. “Only unlike Stranger Things, it’s set in a retirement community, so that’s something different. This time our misfits are a little on the older side. They ride golf carts, not bikes.”
According to the official logline, The Boroughs, created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews., is set in a seemingly picturesque retirement community in the New Mexico desert, where a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have: time.
“It stars Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman, and a host of other screen icons who we’re obsessed with,” Matt Duffer added. “We’ve seen the first three episodes, and we’re really pumped about it. It’s fun, scary, and touching too, and we can’t wait for you to see it.”
The cast of The Boroughs also includes Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, Jena Malone, Carlos Miranda, Rafael Casal, Ed Begley Jr. and Jane Kaczmarek.
“Then there’s Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, a series that follows a bride and groom in a chaotic, anxiety-filled week leading up to their wedding,” Ross Duffer said. “It dives into the horror and dread that often comes with making a lifelong commitment to someone — something that anyone who’s ever been in a relationship can definitely relate to. We don’t want to say too much more about the story yet — but the title is accurate. Bad things do happen.”
The series was created by Haley Z. Boston, who took on her role as executive producer and showrunner at the age of 29.
“This is her first show, and she is a major new talent, we think, as are the stars of the show — Camila Morrone and Adam DiMarco — and the director, Weronika Tofilska, who recently directed a little show you may have heard of called Baby Reindeer, you should check it out,” Matt Duffer said.
Both The Boroughs and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen will premiere in 2026, the Duffers said. The fifth and final season of their hit Stranger Things is slated to debut in late 2025. Here is what the duo teased about the final chapter at the Netflix event.
