Stranger Things fans have been eagerly awaiting Season 4, as Season 3 dropped way back in pre-pandemic 2019. Now fans can mark their calendars… twice. Season 4 will be split into two parts with the first half arriving on May 27 and the second on July 1. So while Netflix isn’t going completely in the direction of other streaming services that drop shows one episode at a time, this is a step in that direction and it isn’t the first time as Netflix has split other TV seasons up in the past on series including Lucifer.
It was also announced that Stranger Things has been renewed for a fifth and final season. We knew this was coming. The Duffer Brothers always saw this as a finite series and the fact that the focal characters, who were children when this show launched in 2016, are now grown up would seem to indicate that it was time to wrap up the tale of Eleven and the Hawkins gang.
In an open letter, the Duffer Brothers proclaimed:
“Hi nerds! Do you copy? It’s been a little while. With nine scripts, over 800 pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual-effects shots and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one. Everyone involved is incredibly proud of the results, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
“Given the unprecedented length, and to get it to you as soon as possible, Season 4 will be released in two volumes. Volume 1 will release on May 27th; Volume 2 will release five weeks later on July 1st.”
It sounds like Season 4 will consist of nine episodes with five episodes released on May 27 and the last four released on July 1. It’s likely the last episode will be extra long.
Here is the previously released logline for S4:
“It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.”
As we saw at the end of Season 3, the Byers family and Eleven moved to California, and Hopper was believed to be dead. Fortunately, it was later revealed that Hopper was still alive, but he had somehow been teleported to Siberia. In addition, it seems that Hawkins Lab is back up and running with Brenner cultivating a new generation of kids with superpowers.
The Duffer Brothers further confirmed that S4 will be the second to last and that the entire storyline will wrap up in S5, although there are plans to further explore this world in future projects.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll soon see for yourselves — we are not hurling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; Season 5 will be the last.
“There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things: new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes. But first we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.”
Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, and Brett Gelman with Jamie Campbell Bower, Eduardo Franco, and Joseph Quinn joining for Season 4.
Are you ready to get upside down with the world of Stranger Things again?
