Stranger Things 4, Volume II will end on a cliffhanger

We’re only a few weeks out from Volume II of Stranger Things season 4, and the hype train is officially pulling out of the station. Or maybe it never even parked there? The excitement surrounding this season of Stranger Things is real.

The final two episodes of season 4 are set to be epic (the finale is two-and-a-half hours long!), but series creators Matt and Ross Duffer are already thinking ahead. It was announced a while back that season 5 will be the last season of Stranger Things…which means that season 4 is going to end in quite a different manner than its predecessors.

“Usually at the end of a season, we tie things up with a nice bow, before a little tease that says, ‘Hold on, something is unraveling,'” Matt Duffer told Empire. “As we move into Season 5, we won’t have to do that. There won’t be a reset from where we finish this season.”

Stranger Things 4 finale has more FX shots than entirety of season 3

Season 4 has been massive, both in terms of its production and how spread out the cast of characters is. In many ways, it already feels like it’s edging into endgame territory, with some of the show’s biggest secrets being laid bare and daring creative choices resulting in landmark television. The upcoming season finale is movie-length, and according to Matt Duffer, it has “more FX shots than the entirety of Season 3.” Considering that season 3 featured the epic battle at Starcourt Mall, that’s saying something.

Duffer went on to tease that there’s “an hour-long chunk in the final episode that just doesn’t stop. It’s the most complicated thing we’ve ever attempted to do.” Meanwhile, the penultimate episode “is all tension and dread with a runtime that would be long even for a movie. Then — well, everything goes to hell…”

"Volume 2 really takes what we did in Volume 1 and ramps everything up."

As for what exactly all that tension and dread will revolve around, it seems safe to say that Vecna will be involved. “One of our favorite things in horror films is seeing our protagonists be proactive,” Ross Duffer said. “You know in The Lost Boys when they decide to go after the vampires? It’s fun to see people come up with a plan and try to outsmart the villain. That’s what Volume 2 is about. But, of course, not everything goes to plan…”

From the recently released Volume II teaser, we can only imagine how terrifying some of those curveballs Vecna will be throwing at our heroes might be.

Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) will return in Volume 2

But it’s not all monsters, mayhem, and terror on Stranger Things ; this show has more ’80s nostalgia than you can shake a Lite-Brite at. Volume I featured the song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God” by Kate Bush at a pivotal moment, and it’s since gone on to boost the ’80s pop song back up to #1 on iTunes. It’s been one of the theme songs of this season, and according to the Duffers we haven’t heard the last of it.

Ross Duffer teased that the song will have a “really special spot” in the Volume II finale. “She’s been nothing but cool,” he said of Bush. “We keep going back to her like, ‘Can we use the song here? How about here?’ I hope we’re not annoying!”

Stranger Things 4 Volume II premieres July 1 on Netflix.

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h/t SyFy Wire