The Level 30 Finale
Stranger Things goes full Tiamat, Montauk theories emerge, and Age of Revelation gets graded - By Stephen Schleicher
Happy Friday, Spoilerites!
It’s the quiet stretch between December 24 and January 5, so the news cycle has been taking a nap… except for one thing that everybody is still talking about.
STRANGER THINGS INDEED
Whether you loved the final episode of Stranger Things or you immediately launched into “WTF did I just watch?” discourse, the show pulled off something impressive: it proved that with enough hype, nostalgia, and money, you can swing for the fences and still get people to show up.
Personally? I liked the finale. It reminded me of a long-term Dungeons & Dragons campaign.*
At the start, you’re low-level heroes dealing with “base” monsters — and at the time, those threats feel enormous. But after years of leveling up, you’re facing god-like enemies, absurdly overpowered abilities, and a finale that has to top everything that came before.
So if you’re thinking, “What did I just watch?” you watched a table of level 30 characters taking down Tiamat.
A good gaming session gives everyone a moment to shine. That’s the job of the game master. If only one or two players get to do the epic stuff and the bard never gets a spotlight moment, someone’s going home bummed.
And even when the story ends, the best stories keep going in your head. Puck can step out and address the audience, Rodrigo can tell you “our tale is done,” but the listener still gets to imagine what comes next.
*And yes, by a long-term D&D game, I’m talking about Critical Hit: A Major Spoilers Real Play Podcast — which started in 2009 and followed a group of newbies as they leveled up to near god status to take on the Void Gods. If you haven’t listened, you should. It’s one of the OG RPG podcasts, and people argue it helped set the template for how actual-play shows are done.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Most of the online discourse is obsessing over minor story bits that can be hand-waved away… but the thing I haven’t seen anyone talk about is this:
Where is Hopper moving?
If you don’t know the history of Montauk, New York — and the UFO/time travel/parapsychology conspiracy theories tied to the old Air Force base — stop what you’re doing and go down that rabbit hole. Back in the day, a great Coast to Coast AM episode was basically guaranteed to mention “The Montauk Project” at some point.
If the rumors of a spin-off or continuation are true, I’d move out of Hawkins, shift to a new cast, and let Hopper and Joyce pop in now and then. And if you want “more Stranger Things” without doing “more Hawkins,” Montauk is a very smart place to go.
And yes, I’m going to keep drilling down on this until the Warner Bros. Discovery situation is either done or undone: Netflix — the company everyone says will kill theaters — keeps showing it’s willing to use theatrical runs when it makes sense. Even if they don’t get their bigger ambitions over the finish line, I don’t see them abandoning theaters entirely. The fact that the streamer sent the Stranger Things finale to theaters and it has already made over $25 million says something (via Variety)
One thing to watch in 2026: How often Paramount pulls movies from theaters early to go straight to Paramount+. That’s a much more useful indicator of how the next few years might shift.
LET’S TALK COMICS: AGE OF REVELATION WRAPS
The final issue of Marvel’s Age of Revelation event has dropped, and Jonathan Cadotte shared his full thoughts after reading everything in the run:
Now that I have officially read every single comic that was part of the Age of Revelation event that’s been going on with X-Men for the last 3 months, I can say with certainty that it was… fine. I don’t think there were any amazing moments, but there was also nothing glaringly bad. Here’s my breakdown by title:
Amazing X-Men — One of two titles I consider essential.
Binary — Surprisingly emotional: infinite power, still can’t save everyone.
Sabertooth — Strong familial drama; best example of Revelation’s powers.
Longshots — Mostly not good; felt like an excuse to poke fun at Marvel/readers.
World of Revelation — Nice companion to Amazing X-Men.
Rogue/Storm — By far the most convoluted, for better or worse.
Unbreakable X-Men — Best use of “10 years into the future”; could stand alone.
Iron and Frost — Had moments; I could’ve gone without it.
Sinister’s Six — Felt unnecessary and didn’t have standout moments.
Book of Revelation — The other “necessary” title to get the full story.
The Last Wolverine / Cloak or Dagger / X-Vengers / Omega Kids — Pretty decent, mostly fun.
Expatriate X-Men — Good use of new characters; maybe too ambitious for 3 issues.
Radioactive Spider-Man — Worst of the event; felt like a Spider-Man checkbox.
Undeadpool — Biggest surprise: tender, emotional, unexpected depth.
Did you get a chance to read all of the Age of Revelation books? Do you agree with Jonathan’s assessment?
Drop a comment, or hit reply and tell us what worked (or didn’t) for you.
Be sure to check out Jonathan’s other reviews in the Review section of the site.
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