The following contains minor spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2, now on Netflix.
The Duffer Brothers, the creative duo behind Netflix's Stranger Things, have announced that production for the fifth and final season of the hit show is set to begin in 2022.
Ross Duffer spoke with Collider about their schedule. "We're going to take a little vacation in July. And then we're going to come back," Duffer said. "I know that the writer's room is going to start in the first week of August." This should be welcome news to fans of Netflix's most popular show who had to wait three years between the last two seasons. Season 4 just completed, so hopefully, the fact that production is set to begin again so quickly will mean a shorter turnaround for Stranger Things' climactic fifth season.
Despite the long gap between seasons, Stranger Things Season 4 proved more popular than ever for Netflix, bringing in so many viewers for the finale that it actually crashed the streaming service for a time on July 1. Unlike previous seasons, Season 4 didn't wrap the story up neatly. Instead, it left more of a cliffhanger for fans to ponder. As Matt Duffer explained this choice in an interview, "Usually at the end of a season, we tie things up with a nice bow before a little tease that says, 'Hold on, something is unraveling.' As we move into season 5, we don't have to do that. There won't be a reset from where we finish this season."
The finale and season 4 of Stranger Things overall had a much darker tone than the previous seasons. Not only did the season show quite a few brutal deaths, but the tragic finale left a beloved new character dead and a member of the "original" group of friends in a coma. Moreover, the villain's master plan seems to have come to fruition, leaving the entire world in danger. Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy said that "going darker" actually helped the show because "our audience is growing up and evolving along with our young stars."
Levy went on to add that what really makes Stranger Things special is how it balances out the darkness with a strong emotional core. "I think this is the superpower of the show. No matter how dark we go with Stranger Things, it's always balanced with the heart it is. It's got this warm, passionate beating heart, in the character's storytelling, and that's the antidote; that's the balance for all the gore and darkness."
All four seasons of Stranger Things are streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Source: Collider