'Stranger Things' Creators Share First Look at Dark New Netflix Series 'The Boroughs'
Stranger Things may be over, but the Duffer Brothers aren't done with Netflix. The duo behind the hit sci-fi series are executive producing a brand-new show coming to the streaming service called The Boroughs. On Wednesday, Netflix revealed the first images from the series, showing off a cast of actors including Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, and Bill Pullman.
Whereas Stranger Things focused on a bunch of kids who uncover a creepy sci-fi conspiracy, The Boroughs centers on a different age bracket. The series is set in a retirement community, but when a new member joins (Molina), the retirees uncover a secret that will soon have them trying to stop an otherworldly threat.
Netflix
The first images of the show, which will hit Netflix on May 21, don't seem to reveal much about the nature of this otherworldly threat. One has Molina's character, a grieving widower named Sam Cooper, using a flashlight to look through a large hole alongside Woodard and Denis O'Hare's characters. All of the images can be viewed here.
The Creators of The Boroughs Say It's Scary and Mysterious
The Duffer Brothers are executive producing The Boroughs, though they are not the series' creators. Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, a duo whose past screenwriting credits include The Lord of the Rings anime movie The War of the Rohirrim and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance series, came up with this new show. In a press release, they teased what viewers can expect—and what the Duffer Brothers brought to the series.
“From the beginning, we knew we wanted The Boroughs to feel equal parts scary, mysterious, exciting and emotional. The challenge was to create a world that could hold all of these different tones at once. Which is why it was so fun to work with the Duffer Brothers – the masters of balancing heart and horror,” the pair said.
"For years, we’ve wondered why no one has made a film like Ron Howard’s wonderful Cocoon since, well, Cocoon. Then, out of nowhere, Jeff and Will emailed us an idea for ‘The Boroughs:’ a story about retirees and monsters," The Duffer Brothers said in another statement. "They were adamant that — unlike so many stories about older characters — this wouldn’t treat aging as a punchline. Instead, it would treat its characters as real people facing real challenges… along with a few supernatural ones. It was exactly the show we’d been dreaming of."
The Duffer Brothers recently revealed that another show of their own creation that they were developing for Netflix, Talisman, had been canceled after being in development hell. However, as The Boroughs shows, the duo are still very involved with the streaming service.