Stranger Things fans have had to exercise an awful lot of patience over the years. The Netflix hit series has produced four seasons eight years ago in 2016, with creators Ross and Matt Duffer taking their time between installments. That has been true of the upcoming fifth and final season of the show. But it sounds like all of that time is being spent on something epic, as Maya Hawke says what we’re going to get is roughly the equivalent of eight movies.
Hawke, who plays Robin on the show, recently said what she could about Stranger Things season 5 on a recent episode of Podcrushed. “We’re making, basically, eight movies,” Hawke explained before adding that the final season’s episodes are “very long.” This may not come as a big surprise, as season 4 contained huge episodes, including the insanely long two and a half hour finale. Speaking further, the actress spoke highly of the Duffer Brothers and why their process takes so long.
“Our showrunners, Matt and Ross, take a lot of responsibility. They have an amazing team of writers, but they’re very involved. They write a lot and they are very intense and serious about the quality of the continued writing, and so it takes a long time to write each season, and a long time to shoot them.”
Production on the final season of Stranger Things kicked off in January, which was not originally the plan. Last year’s SAG and WGA strikes essentially shut down Hollywood for months on end, upending Netflix’s plans to get their massive hit before cameras as soon as possible. The cast – which includes breakout stars like Millie Bobby Brown, Joe Keery, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Sadie Sink – is all in demand. Not to mention many of the show’s original stars aren’t getting any younger. These long delays between seasons aren’t helping anyone.
It has been a full two years since the fourth season premiered and no return date for the show is in sight. What we know for sure is that the audience will be there when the time arrives. The show’s fourth season set huge viewership records for Netflix, in no small part thanks to those oversized episodes. People are going to want to see how the tale of Hawkins concludes after investing nearly a decade in these characters. At the very least, all of this patience is going to be rewarded with a very cinematic experience, it seems.
Stranger Things season 5 does not currently have a release date. For more, you can read about the Stranger Things animated series in the works at Netflix.
