Every creepy story needs a picture-perfect small setting with secrets, and for the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, that’s the familiar town of Hawkins, Indiana. Most people might not live with the Upside Down and its monsters, but many can relate to residing somewhere where everyone knows each other’s business. Now that the final season is coming up, it’s clear that everyone is in trouble, including those who weren’t aware of the evil of their hometown. It also seems likely that the world will learn the unsettling truth about Hawkins.
Fans are also thinking about what will happen at the end of Stranger Things season 5. Viewers have some interesting ideas about where the characters could go once Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) loses and it’s time to move on.
Fans Think These Stranger Things Characters Will Leave Hawkins
In a Reddit thread, fans discussed which characters will say goodbye to Hawkins once Stranger Things season 5 is over.
Redditor @Owl_Resident thinks that every main character will move away. The idea of Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) starting a new life away from Hawkins as a committed couple is a nice one. They’ve experienced more pain than most teenagers. Now, they can enjoy themselves and figure out what they want out of life when there aren’t terrifying monsters chasing them all the time. The fan wrote:
“I suspect all of them will leave, especially if the do time jumps in the epilogue. Some will go together, such as Mike and El, others separately. It’s that whole ‘always bound by love and friendship but the fellowship was at its end’ vibe.”
It seems likely Mike and Eleven will go to the same college or at least make plans to visit each other frequently. Redditor @Rhsywolf1 wonders if one character will stick around:
“I think Steve will stay and be the next police chief of Hawkins.”
Redditor @Living-under-A-R4ck also thinks that Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) will become a police chief because he’s “the protector of the group.” If one character lives in Hawkins forever, it does make sense that it would be Steve, who says hilarious things throughout the series and becomes more compassionate as time goes on. If Jim Hopper (David Harbour) left, Steve could take over his role, which would be logical but also emotional to watch.
The fan also wrote that Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and Hopper will move away, along with Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Nancy Byers (Natalia Dyer), and Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). They also wonder if Hawkins could cease to exist, like Sunnydale’s destruction when Buffy The Vampire Slayer ends. These ideas all make sense. However, it’s hard to know what will happen to Hawkins once the evil is gone. It would be equally memorable and tragic to watch Hawkins be destroyed. No matter what happens to this small town, though, hopefully Jonathan, Nancy, and Will make it out. They are thoughtful and smart characters who deserve to move to an exciting new city and make their dreams come true. When compared to the other characters, they have a lot in common and seem wiser and more introspecitve.
Is The Stranger Things Setting Hawkins Based On A Real Place?
The Duffer Brothers grew up in Durham, North Carolina, and they have shared that some of this town influenced Hawkins, Indiana. They told The News & Observer, “in terms of landmarks or street names, I think people have honestly picked up on all of them.” Hawkins is based on places in Georgia, the state where Stranger Things is filmed, along with ’80s horror movie moments and towns from the world of Stephen King.
Cady Drell, a journalist, told CBC.ca that an actual project inspired Hawkins Lab. Drell said:
“The most obvious real-life influence for Stranger Things was this project called MK Ultra. [It] was a CIA covert operation that happened from the 1950s to the 1970s.”
MK Ultra was about doing research for the Cold War and figuring out products and processes. Drell continued, “They wanted to find ways to extract information, and they were testing them on the American public.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Duffer Brothers shared that the show was called Montauk at first, and they changed it to Hawkins. Matt Duffer said it was great to look at Atlanta, Georgia as a filming location. He explained:
“it looked actually much more like our own childhoods. It reminded me of my own childhood. I don’t know what it’s like to live on a coast, so it was actually once we settled into it and got used to the idea and we came up with this town name, Hawkins.”
