With the news that Stranger Things is concluding with its fifth season, the show is now hurtling towards its endgame. We’d best prepare ourselves, because things are about to be bigger, crazier, scarier, and wilder than ever. But don’t take it from me. Recently, Noah Schnapp (Will) teased that the new episodes are filled with “complete and utter chaos.” Yikes!
The upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things is split into two parts. Volume 1 drops on Netflix on May 21, followed by Volume 2 on July 1. Our gang, once localized in the town of Hawkins, is now spread out. The Byers family — Will, Joyce, Jonathan and now Eleven — have moved out to California and Hopper (David Harbour) appears to be held prisoner in Russia following his “death” in season 3. Meanwhile, the kids back in Hawkins find themselves searching around the mysterious Creel House.
Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, star Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) talked about the wider scope of the new episodes. “Everyone’s spread out everywhere,” he said. “It’s just the craziest, biggest thing you’ve seen from Stranger Things.”
The Stranger Things cast were in tears after learning the show ending was ending
Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer announced that the show was drawing to a close in February. The cast learned this along with the rest of the world. “They recently posted this letter that they wrote, which I never saw until they posted because they don’t really tell us anything, because they know I’m always spoiling stuff,” Schnapp said. “So they put out this letter, and it’s like, ‘The show’s ending — that’s it. This is the beginning of the end.’ And I read it, and I was just bawling. I was so upset.”
"And I texted Millie, my castmate who plays Eleven, and she was like, ‘You’re crying, too? So am I.’ And then she texted Gaten, who also plays Dustin. He’s like, ‘I’m crying, too.’ And then we all texted the Duffers and were like, ‘This is so sad. I can’t believe this is over.’ And they’re like, ‘You guys gotta stop texting us. I know it’s over, but we have time left.’"
All things considered, season 5 is probably the right time to end the show. Fans have seen it coming for a long time, given that the “kids” are all grown up; all except for Schnapp are now over 18 years old.
Stranger Things season 4 is a “dramatic departure” for the series
That seems to be the thinking of showrunner Matt Duffer, who wants the show to evolve along with its cast. “They’re not kids anymore — they really are full-blown teenagers,” he told Queue. “That’s why this season we leaned more into horror. We figured they should be in their own [version] of A Nightmare on Elm Street basically.” (Incidentally, Stranger Things season 4 will feature an appearance from Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.)
Matt Duffer promises that season 4 will be a “really dramatic departure” for the show. “That’s important to make sure we don’t get bored, and the cast doesn’t get bored.” Matt’s brother and co-showrunner Ross weighed in as well:
"If we look back at our favorite movie sequels — whether it’s Aliens or Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or The Godfather: Part II, or The Empire Strikes Back — the greatest movie sequels always do change it up. The tone feels different. So that’s what we’ve been trying to do each season to challenge ourselves and give everyone something new to try."
I suspect the main show ending won’t kill the franchise. In a few years, I wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix cashed in and create a spinoff or two. Additionally, there are plenty of spinoff comic books being made. But for now, we still have two more seasons of the original show to enjoy.
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