06 January,2026 04:30 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Sadie Sink
The finale of Stranger Things season 5 has led to multiple fan theories. In the finale, the Hawkins gang manages to shut the Upside Down for good after killing Vecna, the enemy who had terrorised their lives. While most fan-favourite characters survive the murky, life-threatening situations, the biggest question remains, what happened to Eleven?
Sadie Sink, who played Max Mayfield, was asked about the series finale and Eleven's fate. During her latest appearance on The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon asked Sink about the ending and what happened to El, played by Millie Bobby Brown.
"I think she's dead. I don't know," Sadie said, prompting groans of disappointment from the studio audience.
She further added, "Is that a hot take or something? I think Mike's story is just one last story, and then they say goodbye to childhood. But that's just one final tale, and that's it. I think it's kind of a coping thing."
One of the biggest questions viewers were left with after the finale episode was whether Eleven is truly dead and the origin of the mysterious rock for which Henry Creel killed a man in the cave. The Duffer Brothers have confirmed that they will not be wasting any time and are already developing a Stranger Things spin-off.
Speaking to Variety after the season finale, the creators revealed that the spin-off will dig deeper into the mysterious rock that transformed Henry Creel into Vecna.
"The spin-off is going to delve into that and explain it, and you're going to understand it. But it's a completely different mythology. 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 remain," they said.
However, fans should not expect familiar faces to return. The creators clarified that the spin-off will feature "completely new characters, a new town, a new world, and a new mythology."
