'Stranger Things' Season 5 Won't Release For Years, Report Say

Stranger Things is set to end gloriously, though it will take some time until that happens. While everyone was hoping to see the Duffer Brothers and Netflix end the mainline series sometime, possibly next year, a new report indicates we won’t get the final season for a lot longer than that.

Will Byer and the rest of the Hawkins team of heroes look up as a storm approaches their hometown at the end of season 4 of Stranger Things. — Credit: GamesRadar

One of the biggest issues glaring for most productions is the industry strikes. There has yet to be a deal between the writers, actors, and producers unions. This has led to plenty of delays, which will continue until everything is resolved. Though some minor workarounds exist, most shows and films are paused indefinitely.

Star of Stranger Things, David Harbour, has been able to relay information to fans, including insight into how the grand story will finally end. While he did not state how the series will end exactly, he did reveal it will be the kind of “touching” ending we can all expect.

However, during his reveals about the show, he also let it slip that the final season would take about a year of filming to complete. According to a new report, this means that Stranger Things Season 5 won’t be released for many years.

‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Could Reportedly Release in 2026

Per @MyTimeToShineH:

So no final season until 2026-2027

So no final season until 2026-2027 😮‍💨 https://t.co/4HwlXKm9pc

— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) August 29, 2023

While this might sound like a long time for the show to be released, it might not be far off the mark. It generally takes a year between filming, post-production, and additional time for reshoots or issues. Stranger Things Season 4 had to deal with a broken-up release as the Duffer Brothers scrambled to finish the show.

Instead of releasing the show in one large chunk, they released Stranger Things Season 4: Part 1 on May 27. This first part contained seven episodes. Stranger Things Season 4: Part 2 was released on July 1 and had the final two episodes.

The reasoning behind this erratic release was so the Duffer Brothers could ensure that the highest quality was delivered to fans. This proved to be hugely effective, as the series’ fourth season skyrocketed into the top 3 all-time streamed shows in Netflix history.

While the Duffer Brothers have not yet revealed how many episodes will be in the final season, Mat Duffer did admit to the Happy Sad Confused Podcast that the last season will be “regular sized.” This is in reference to Season 4, which had a staggering runtime of nearly 13 hours.

The fourth season’s final episode had a runtime of 2 hours and 19 minutes. The Duffer Brothers explained they wanted every episode to feel like its own short film, excluding the final episode, which was regular film-sized. That was certainly the case, but there was a lot of setup. We saw how the kids had grown up, leading to how Vecna would now ruin their lives.

With the fifth and final season, Matt Duffer also revealed none of that setup will happen. Vecna has irreparably destroyed Hawkins, and the town now understands something sinister is happening. The story will immediately get to the action and crux of the final season.

The issue is that even though Matt Duffer explains the final season will not be as lengthy, there are still a ton of VFX shots and shooting to get through. We hope that filming can get underway next year, which would mean that the timetable of a 2026 release will be shortened to 2025.

However, it took three years between Seasons 3 and 4. Hopefully, with shooting occurring next year, it might take just as long for the final season to be released. The above report starting that 2026 will be when Stranger Things Season 5 starts streaming is a fair assessment. We just hope some magic happens to allow us to see the final season much earlier.

Millie Bobby Brown screaming as Eleven in Stranger Things — Credit: Netflix

Either way, we have complete faith that the Duffer Brothers will deliver a final season even better than the fourth. It might take much longer to release than any of us hoped.

What do you think of Stranger Things Season 5 releasing in 2026 or 2027? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!