A Cast Member Has A Prediction

Few shows on Netflix have the kind of lasting cultural impact that we see with Stranger Things, though of course it helped that the series was broken up into two parts this time around, separated by a month. But no one stopped talking about season 4 during that month, given how wild it was, and now the same thing is happening for the part 2 finale.

Now, naturally, what everyone wants to know is when Stranger Things season 5’s release date will be, given that naturally, we do not want a yawning gap in between seasons again.

The Duffer Brothers have said that they wished they could have filmed season 4 and 5 back to back, but that wasn’t possible due to the pandemic. We know they’re writing season 5 now, and one cast member, David Harbour, spoke to GQ UK about what he thinks the release date will be, given what he knows:

“I think we’ll [shoot] next year. They’re finishing writing it this year, and they need to prep and stuff, so hopefully it’ll be this year. But I think that’s the plan. So it’d probably come out mid-2024, based on our track record.”

And what exactly is that track record? Here are the dates and gaps of the last four seasons of Stranger Things:

• Season 1 – July 15, 2016
• Season 2 – October 27, 2017 (15.5 months later)
• Season 3 – July 4, 2019 (20 months later)
• Season 4 – May 27, 2022 (35 months later)

So, the average wait is 23.5 months, almost two years, which would be…summer 2024, just as Harbour says. If we’re being optimistic, and know that the number skews higher because of the nearly three year gap during the pandemic, it could be more like a year and a half, which could mean the early months of 2024 instead. But 2024 does seem the most likely option, and we’re about to go at least a year and a half without more Stranger Things.

Stranger Things is certainly a more involved shoot and production than most Netflix series with its massive episode budget and sprawling 90-150 minute episodes. The Duffer Brothers say they imagine the series finale will probably be around two hours, as they don’t believe in the TV format that has the second-to-last episode have all the action, where the final episode is just all resolution.

The conversation about Stranger Things will probably trail off over the course of the next month. Things are already getting into weird territory where this morning I’m reading a trending story about how Doja Cat thinks Joseph Quinn (Eddie) is hot. So that’s where we are now.

In any case, season 5 is going to be something to behold, I’m sure, and Netflix is sure going to miss this show, even if the Duffer Brothers will continue on with the service with new projects (live action Death Note, take two).

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.