The fourth season of Stranger Things, arguably Netflix’s hottest property, had halted its production due to the pandemic soon after work began. And while the resultant delays dampened fans’ moods, the cast sounds pretty chipper about it, as they’ve put a positive spin on the entire situation.
Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington, said that the extra time is ultimately a good thing, as the writers get more room to polish the story and the Duffer brothers can focus on delivering an even better final experience.
“It definitely gives them more time to write, and I think that that’s always good. I guess there’s the issue of the kids growing, but apart from that, I just think that we want to get the show out as soon as possible for people. That’s definitely true. But something that the (Duffer) brothers have always been extremely, extremely controlling over is just the quality control of the show. So, if this just gives them more time to realize what their vision is, then yeah, I think it could be a good thing.”
Keery even added some “hyperbolic statements” about the fourth season, which don’t give away much, but do sound like a reason to get excited. “It’s crazy! It’s crazy! Hmm, what to say… It’ll be worth the wait, hopefully,” the actor said. His co-star Natalia Dyer – who plays Nancy Wheeler on the show – also agreed that more time is a benefit in the long run, with similar reasons in mind.
“Normally, we get the first few scripts, and then they have to keep writing due to the schedule of it, and it takes a while to craft a script. So, normally, there’s a kind of ‘writing as we’re going,’ but it seems they’ve had enough time. I think it’s maybe been a blessing for the writers, in some way, because they had the time to just sit down, think, and create. So, yeah, it appears to be that they’ve got it all down.”
As far as the script goes, the writers teased the completed stack of scripted episodes on Twitter in the run up to production. The only story details we’ve gotten so far though have come from David Harbour, who’ll reprise his role as Jim Hopper. We’re not exactly sure how he makes it back after his fate in season 3, but some fan theories have tried to explain it. The actor has also promised some “big reveals” regarding Hopper’s backstory, with “New York, Vietnam, and dad” being aspects of these upcoming revelations.
It’s all very nebulous for now, but with production on season 4 reportedly resuming in September, we might at least get another teaser sometime in the near future. Fingers crossed, because at this point, we’re really missing Stranger Things.