It’s a day of mixed emotions for all honorary Hawkins residents: Netflix finally shared the release date – or rather, dates – for season four of “Stranger Things,” but the streamer also revealed the sci-fi drama’s fifth season will be its last. “Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for ‘Stranger Things,'” show creators Matt and Ross Duffer wrote in an open letter to fans. “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 now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.”
Season four will hit Netflix in two parts, arriving three years after season three debuted – volume one will release on May 27, and volume two will release five weeks later on July 1. “With nine scripts, over eight-hundred 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,” the Duffer brothers wrote, adding that the “unprecedented length” and desire to get it to fans “as soon as possible” led them to split the season up into two volumes.
Although “Stranger Things” as we know it is coming to an end, the Duffer brothers seemed to hint at the possibility of a spinoff series or sequel of sorts. “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of ‘Stranger Things’; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes,” they wrote. “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.”
