Review
MGM+ has a brand-new Stephen King horror adaptation arriving this summer, and its premise is similar to Eleven’s Stranger Things backstory. Inspired by Stephen King stories, ‘80s films, and classic horror and sci-fi media, Stranger Things combined these elements to become a massive phenomenon for Netflix, centering its story around a small town targeted by threats from the Upside Down, a realm with origins related to supernaturally gifted kids being experimented on by Hawkins Lab. In Stranger Things season 4, we finally got a glimpse at those kids’ upbringing in the lab, but much of the facility’s history remains mysterious.
With the upcoming Stranger Things season 5 being the show’s last, more TV shows have cropped up with similar tones and concepts around teens with supernatural powers, labs experimenting on kids with supernatural powers, and younger teens battling supernatural horrors. One promising example is MGM+’s new horror series arriving in July, The Institute, which is adapted from Stephen King’s 2019 sci-fi horror novel about children with telepathic and telekinetic powers. In many ways, the show feels like a deeper glimpse into the horrors of Hawkins Lab that were just barely touched upon in Stranger Things season 4’s flashbacks.
The Institute's Story Is Very Reminiscent Of Eleven's History In Stranger Things' Lab
Hawkins Lab & The Institute Share Some Dark Similarities
Directed by From’s executive producer Jack Bender, MGM+’s upcoming series The Institute s young teen Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman), who is kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to a strange facility, The Institute, which houses other children with supernatural abilities. The Institute is also run by a mysteriously ominous figure, Ms. Sigbsy, who leads the staff conducting horrific experiments on the kids. Meanwhile, a former policeman, Tim Jamieson, becomes wrapped up in the conspiracy in an effort to help Luke and the other children.
The Institute premieres on MGM+ on July 13, 2025. Stranger Things season 5, volume 1 premieres on Netflix on November 26, 2025.
With dark experiments and torture on children with supernatural powers forced to live in a lab-like facility, it’s hard to ignore the similarities to Stranger Things’ Hawkins Lab. When comparing the characters, The Institute’s Luke Ellis takes on a similar role to Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven, with Ms. Sigsby being the equivalent of Dr. Martin Brenner and Tim being reminiscent of Jim Hopper. However, rather than being a similar premise to the overarching story, The Institute’s comparisons to Stranger Things are more confined to the show’s mysterious backstory of Hawkins Lab.
Throughout Stranger Things season 4, a series of flashbacks showed bits and pieces of Eleven’s memories in the lab leading up to the massacre of her “siblings” and her later escape from the facility. However, there’s far more history at play in the lab with its experiments on the children’s parents, the children themselves, and their governmental oversight that Stranger Things doesn’t quite have the time and bandwidth to dive deeper into. Exploring those details may be better served by a prequel series dedicated to Hawkins Lab’s origins and Number One’s early experiments, more similar to The Institute’s story approach.
Could A Hawkins Lab Prequel Be Netflix's Secret Stranger Things Spinoff In Development?
The Duffer Bros Have Multiple Stranger Things Spinoffs In The Works
While it might end up feeling redundant given the similarities to The Institute’s premise, it’s still possible that Stranger Things’ universe could expand with a prequel series focused on Hawkins Lab. The Duffer Brothers confirmed that they have top-secret spinoffs to the series in the works, but no details about the premises have been disclosed. That vagueness has inspired plenty of fan speculation around Stranger Things’ upcoming spinoffs, with some of the most popular theories suggesting the show could focus on another of Eleven’s “siblings,” new dimensions in different timelines, or sci-fi inspired by a different conspiracy theory.
However, the Duffer Brothers also confirmed that the spinoffs would be very “different” from the main series, and implied they won’t feature figures from Stranger Things’ current slate of characters. That makes the idea of a prequel focused on Hawkins Lab’s origins, Dr. Brenner’s MKUltra-like experiments, and the earlier experiences of Number One and Eleven’s other “siblings” at the lab much less likely. As such, MGM+’s The Institute is likely to be the closest show we’ll get to a Stranger Things prequel about Hawkins Lab.
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Stranger Things
TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction
8/10
Stranger Things is a Netflix series set in the 1980s, where the mysterious disappearance of a young boy leads a small town to uncover secret experiments and supernatural forces. A significant focus is on a peculiar girl who may hold the key to the unfolding mystery.
The Institute
Thriller Mystery Fantasy Horror
A kidnapped prodigy with special abilities, Luke, ends up at The Institute, while Tim, a former cop, seeks a new life in a nearby town. Their fates are inevitably linked.
