After six weeks of waiting, Stranger Things 4 finally debuted its second volume last weekend. And while the final two episodes might have been cinematic in length, unfortunately it was still two episodes, so it didn’t take fans long to burn through the new content. That means folks have already turned their attentions to the Netflix smash’s fifth and final season, but the only problem is we have no idea when that’ll be hitting screens.
Tragically, Stranger Things 5 has yet to go before cameras, nor is it even nearing the stage where it’s reading to do so. Creators the Duffer brothers have confirmed they’ve yet to start writing the last run, although the good news is that work begins very soon. While chatting to Collider, Ross Duffer revealed that he, his brother Matt, and the rest of the writer’s room will get cracking next month.
“We’re going to take a little vacation in July. And then we’re going to come back. I know that the writer’s room is going to start in that first week of August.”
With any luck, the scripting process will be pretty painless for the Duffers and company, as the overall story for season five has been outlined for years. The EPs have previously explained that, thanks to the COVID-related holdup on filming season four, they took the time to break down the final season alongside scripting season five. That likely informed how the ST4 finale leaves so many plot-threads dangling for the next batch of episodes to pick up.
So if writing kicks off in August, when could we see season five on our screens? Well, it’s likely that Netflix will be desperate to avoid another three-year wait, but it would have to be a very speedy turnaround to get the new run out in 2023.
With that in mind, it looks as if we’re headed for another two-year gap, much like that between seasons two and three. Stranger Things 5 isn’t coming any time soon, then, but hopefully some breadcrumbs might be thrown our way once the scripting phase commences.