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Netflix has made several major announcements about Stranger Things, including the Season 4 release date and that the hit sci-fi show will end with Season 5. It was also confirmed that Netflix might pursue Stranger Things spinoff projects, so fans of the series might have more to look forward to down the road.
Starting with Season 4, Netflix said it will be split into two volumes, the first of which will be released on May 27. The second part will follow five weeks later, debuting on July 1. This is not a unique release strategy for Netflix, as the company also broke Ozark Season 4 into two parts.
Creators Matt and Ross Duffer said they wanted to split Stranger Things Season 4 into two parts due to its “unprecedented length.” The season had nine scripts and more than 800 pages, and it required two years of filming and “thousands” of VFX shots, the Duffer brothers said in a note to fans. The total runtime for Season 4 is almost twice the length of any of the previous seasons, and the brothers said Season 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,” they said.
Director and producer Shawn Levy previously told Collider that Season 4 has taken longer than expected due in part to the pandemic and the team’s bigger creative ambitions.
“As much as it pains our viewers that it will have been so long, trust me, it pains [creators Matt and Ross Duffer], and I more,” Levy said. “It is a kind of perfect storm combination of COVID shutdown, slower pace of filming in COVID protocols and health protocols, which are necessary, and coincidentally we chose Season 4 to be by far–and I mean, by far, far, far–the most ambitious of the seasons.”
The brothers also confirmed that a fifth season of Stranger Things is coming, and it will be the last. “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…” they said.
There is no word yet on when Stranger Things Season 5 will arrive or what the story will be, however, but it’s likely still some time off. The full Season 4 synopsis has also been released–check it out below.
Finally, the Duffer brothers teased that there might be more Stranger Things content to come on Netflix after the main show wraps up with Season 5. “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes,” they said. That’s all the pair had to say on the subject of expanding the wider Stranger Things universe, so we’ll have to wait to find out what might come of it.
David Harbour, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, and Joe Keery are all returning for Season 4, while there are plenty of newcomers, too.
Stranger Things Season 4 Synopsis:
“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.”
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