‘Stranger Things’ Will End With Season Five

Stranger Things has been renewed for a fifth—and final—season. In the summer of 2016, out of seemingly nowhere, everyone was talking about Netflix’s 1980s-set sci-fi series Stranger Things. Fast-forward a few months later and it was a pop culture phenomenon: Everyone watched it, it seemed like three out of five people at every Halloween party was dressed up as a Stranger Things character, and we’ll never look at Eggo waffles the same! Now, years later, Netflix has announced that the phenomenon will end with the show’s fifth season.

Netflix announced the end of the series along with poster reveals for season four of Stranger Things. Season four will be released in two parts, with part one dropping on Netflix on May 27. Part two will drop on July 1. I don’t know why they’re making us wait to see more of Steve’s hair, but at least it isn’t that long of a wait. And we’ve had to learn to be patient: The third season of Stranger Things was released on Netflix over two and a half years ago, in July 2019. (The fourth season experienced delays due to complications as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.)

In an open letter to fans shared with the press, Stranger Things cocreators Matt and Ross Duffer said the total run time of Stranger Things season four is very long, which is why it’s been split into two parts. “With nine scripts, over 800 pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots, and a run time nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet but also the most rewarding one,” they wrote.

“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” they added. “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 see for yourselves—we are now hurtling toward our finale.”

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more details about Stranger Things season five.