Since its premiere in 2016, Netflix’s Stranger Things has become one of the most iconic and popular series on streaming platforms. According to Deadline, the successful series will continue its run this year for the fourth season. This upcoming season will contain two parts, and they will premiere on May 27, 2022, and July 1, 2022, respectively. A fifth season is already confirmed and it is set to be the final season.
Sets in the early 1980s, Stranger Things features the story of a group of young teens uncovering an alternative world and big conspiracies behind a once-quiet town. As they approach the truth, they must also encounter supernatural power and unseen dangers. The characters need to unite together to take on the more and more risky challenges.
At the end of season three, we saw Joyce, the mother of Jonathan and Will, moves her family to a new town for a new chapter of life. From the teaser we got so far, it seems that Will and Eleven will be living in California when the season starts. However, we also got some cliffhangers that some dark experiments are still going on in the Soviet Union. The fourth season will likely unveil more of the conspiracies.
Stranger Things is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. A three-time Emmy nominee for Best Drama, the series is one of Netflix’s most-watched titles to date. Season 3, ranked as the second-most-popular English-language series in Netflix’s Top 10, drew 582 million hours of viewing. Season 2 had 427 million hours. The series also received four Golden Globe nominations throughout the years.
It’s been almost three years since we got the third season of Stranger Things. Production of Season 4 was delayed for several months last year due to complications from COVID-19. Filming wrapped last September.
The Duffer Brothers (Wayward Pines), creators of the series, expressed their joy for the upcoming season:” “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 you stay with us as we finish this tale.”
The return of Stranger Things is also good news to Netflix. As Deadline suggests, “it has been on the back foot a bit since its quarterly earnings report and first-quarter outlook last month spooked investors and sent its stock plunging.” Without tons of IPs or worldwide adventure theme parks, Netflix relies more on its stocking and streaming revenues than its competitors like Disney and WarnerMedia. Reed Hastings, one of the Co-CEOs of Netflix, stated that the company “is already working on building the (series) franchise, but it’s probably, I don’t know, 20% of what it will be in a couple of years in terms of the auxiliary boost beyond just the title.”
Most major characters are returning for the newest season. Lead actress Winona Ryder (Little Women, Heathers) will continue playing the main role of Joyce. David Harbour (Brokeback Mountain) is also set to return as Jim Hopper despite the character’s unknown fate. The younger cast members including Millie Bobby Brown (Godzilla vs. Kong) and Gatan Matarazzo (The Blacklist) will also make their comebacks.
The Duffer Bros stated that they expected the series to run for four or five seasons when they first envisioned the show. However, they also promised that the final season won’t be the end of the franchise. Fans of Stranger Things may expect spinoff series in the future.
Season four has nine episodes. The Duffer Bros hinted that this season will have a total running time twice as long as that of any previous season.
Image Credit: Raymond Flotat