Having savoured every second of the thrilling final two episodes of Stranger Things season 4, it’s no wonder fans are already scrabbling about for clues as to where the next chapter could take us.
Already, the show’s creators the Duffer Brothers have hinted there'll be a time jump, while producer Shawn Levy is adamant the Netflix series will bow out on a high with a more than satisfying conclusion.
He told Total Film: "We don't want to be one of those shows that is flailing while it searches for a way to stick the landing … We really want to stick the landing".
Fans welcomed his refreshingly honest stance, particularly as many popular series have limped on so long past their sell-by date (eg: Lost or Happy Days) that even die-hard viewers clamoured for them to end.
Released on Friday, Season 4 of Stranger Things saw our heroes take on the sinister Vecna, a hugely powerful adversary with a long and complex history with Eleven and Dr Martin Brenner.
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The thrilling final fight proved one of their most challenging so far, and will of course carry over into the already hotly-anticipated series 5.
As to when this final series will drop is anybody’s guess, but looking at how previous seasons arrived could help us make an educated guess.
The following contains rather large spoilers, so if you’re yet to watch Stranger Things 4, you know what to do!
When is Stranger Things season 5 likely to drop?
Creators Matt and Ross Duffer have yet to announce when Stranger Things 5 will be released, which is hardly surprising as it hasn’t even been filmed yet.
Pandemic-altering situations aside, each season has usually taken around half a year to shoot.
Add to this some highly time-consuming special effects in post-production – sometimes right up to the eleventh hour and beyond – then it can take well over a year to complete a season from beginning to end.
As a rough guess, it’s safe to say that season 5 probably won’t be with us until late 2023 at the very earliest.
Having said that, the smart money has 2024 as a far more realistic timeframe, particularly as the final season is bound to have everything including the kitchen sink thrown at it.
Will season 5 be the end of Stranger Things?
It will be the last as far as Eleven and chums at Hawkins and the Upside Down go, but that doesn’t mean that Stranger Things as a franchise is done and dusted.
It’s such a cash cow that it being canned forever seems highly unlikely.
in fact, the Duffer Brothers have gone so far as to hint at a future spin-off series.
They said: "There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things. New mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes."
The siblings later added: "We haven't told anyone the idea yet, much less written it. We think everyone – including Netflix – will be surprised when they hear the concept, because it's very, very different. Somehow, Finn Wolfhard – who is one crazy smart kid – correctly guessed what it was going to be about. But aside from Finn, no one else knows!"
What's likely to happen plot-wise in Stranger Things season 5?
Tantalisingly, the Duffers already know how Stranger Things will end. Unlike say the recent Star Wars trilogy, the show is already meticulously mapped out with a very clear story arc.
Matt Duffer told SFX: "We know what the ending is. It's conceivable that it changes but I think it's unlikely because it's one of those endings that just feels, and has always felt, right. It also feels sort of inevitable. Then when you come up with it, you're like, 'Oh yeah well, that is absolutely what is has to be.'"
David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, says "We're introducing new stuff, but we're also tightening and wrapping up in a certain direction. (This is) to make it have a clear, clean, specific, and definite ending at some point, which I can't really talk about."
'Pedal to the metal from the opening scene'
If you’ve seen the concluding part of Season 4, you’ll know every group - in Nevada, Hawkins, and Russia – rather unknowingly joined forces in an effort to take down Vecna.
Elsewhere we had Max bait his subconscious at the Creel House, while Robin, Steve, and Nancy torched his defenceless physical form in the Upside Down.
We saw Mike and Will immerse Eleven in a makeshift sensory deprivation tank, and her mind wandered away to Max to help her face off against the big bad, though Vecna is far from beaten.
Will gravely told Mike: "Now that I'm back, in Hawkins, I can feel him. And he's hurt, he's hurting, but he's still alive. It's strange knowing now who it was this whole time. But I can still remember what he thinks, and how he thinks. He's not gonna stop, ever, not until he's taken everything... everyone... We have to kill him".
Ross Duffer told The Wrap that whatever happens in season 5, it will be emotional and will be ‘pedal to the metal from the opening scene’.
Many fans have speculated that time travel will play a big role in season 5, particularly as the Upside Down was revealed to be stuck in 1983.
Changes to the cast (or not!)
With the current main cast proving so popular, every single one is expected to return in season 5. That means Millie Bobby Brown will resume her role as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard will be back as Mike Wheeler, and Sadie Sink reprising her role as Max Mayfield.
Other performers who will doubtless be back include Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), and not forgetting 80/90s A-lister Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers).
Finally, to add fuel to the speculative fire, Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna/Henry Creel/One, said: "Let me put it this way: I know about season five. Take from that what you will".
