David Harbour Thought Netflix Would Cancel Stranger Things After 'Disaster' First Season

"Stranger Things" is finished, and while Netflix has found a solid replacement in the hugely popular "KPop Demon Hunters," the streamer will still struggle to repeat the success of its biggest show. According to Jim Hopper actor David Harbour, however, nobody saw any of this coming. He even expected "Stranger Things" to be canceled after just one season.

Nothing is ever going to replace "Stranger Things." The Netflix show represented the streaming series, becoming a cultural phenomenon and capturing the imaginations of an entire generation. The controversial finale, which left many big "Stranger Things" questions unanswered even brought in as much as $30 million at the box office, cementing the show's status as the most popular streaming series of all time. As such, it's sort of funny to think that the show was considered a bit of an underdog when it first debuted almost a decade ago.

Back in 2016, when the first season of "Stranger Things" dropped, creators Matt and Ross Duffer had no idea they had just delivered a show that would become a cultural phenomenon. But after 18 Emmy nominations and a wave of support from fans, Netflix and the Duffers found themselves with a major hit on their hands. That must have been nice considering nobody expected the show to do much prior to its surprise success. In fact, nobody thought the show would last beyond one season, including Harbour, who claims that everyone involved thought "Stranger Things" would be a disaster.

Of all the "Stranger Things" seasons, it's the inaugural run of episodes that still stand up best today. Season 5 dropped the ball in so many ways that it's destined to live in infamy. But back in 2016, the show was a fresh and exciting new addition to the streaming sphere.

Still, the success of "Stranger Things" season 1 was a big surprise for everyone involved. The show had no major stars aside from Winona Ryder who played Joyce Byers on the show and wasn't exactly in her prime in 2016. Meanwhile, the Duffer Brothers' previous experience involved a direct-to-video horror and serving as writers on Fox's mostly overlooked series "Wayward Pines." What's more, Netflix wasn't pushing the show in the way the brothers might have hoped. As Ross Duffer told the Los Angeles Times in 2017, "That is what they told us: They said, 'Don't freak out if you don't see a ton of marketing.' They thought this was going to be word of mouth and that this was going to build."

Very quickly, however, the series took off and caught everyone by surprise. "I think it built faster than they thought," continued Ross. "I think it was faster than anyone expected, obviously." Speaking to Business Insider David Harbour explained how he and pretty much everyone else was caught off-guard by the popularity of season 1. "By the time we finished, we wrapped, I thought we wouldn't get a second season," he said. "We'd be the first Netflix show kind of ever to never get a second season. We thought no one would watch it, it was going to be a disaster." Clearly, things didn't turn out that way and now we may even see more of Hopper and Joyce.

The "Stranger Things" season 5 finale was filled with mistakes, logical inconsistencies, and unresolved storylines. Many fans were furious with the fate of Eleven, and more still were confused about what the heck happened to significant characters who were seemingly forgotten during the episode's 40-minute epilogue. Still, there's no doubt the finale was a major success for Netflix and the Duffers in terms of the sheer number of people who watched, discussed, and continue to dissect the episode. There's even a widespread theory known as "Conformity Gate" which suggested that the finale was a fake episode and that Netflix was gearing up to launch the "real" finale on January 7, 2025. It didn't happen, but it speaks to the devotion and obsession the fanbase has for this series.

Considering nobody thought this show would last beyond season 1, that's a pretty good result (as long as you ignore all the issues in the final season). In reality, however, that's not the final result. The "Stranger Things" finale may have sneakily teased the spin-off via a scene featuring Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper in which they discuss moving to Montauk. Or maybe not. 

For now, details about spin-offs are sparse. What we do know is that Netflix has figured out how to keep "Stranger Things" going forever with the animated prequel series "Stranger Things: Tales From '85," which is set between season 2 and 3 of the show proper. But there's also a live-action spin-off that could very well be focused on Hopper and Joyce in their new lives together. That would mean the pair have truly come a long way from a show they thought wouldn't last beyond season 1.