It’s been a long time coming, but Stranger Things season four will arrive on Netflix this year. Twice it turns out. The streaming site announced the series’ next installment is twice as long as any previous season and will be released in two parts. We also now know the release dates for Stranger Things season four. Volume One debuts May 27, with Volume Two following on July 1. A new series of posters released to tease Stranger Things season four also indicates that it won’t take long for everyone from Hawkins, Indiana, to reunite even when they’re far from one another. A new terror will bring them together in a super-sized season that will serve as the penultimate installment of the show, which will end with Stranger Things 5.
The Beginning of the End: Stranger Things Season Five Will Be Its Last
The show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, shared a letter to fans explaining the show’s long delay. It’s not just because of COVID. It’s because Stranger Things season four is literally very long. Twice as long as any previous season in terms of runtime. Since they also cite nine scripts, it appears the season will likely be nine extra-long episodes released in two volumes. But how they ultimately decide to edit those nine scripts remains to be seen. It won’t be a total shock if those installments end up being split into more episodes.
The streamer also provided an official synopsis for Stranger Things season four. It teases an all-new monster for the group to fend off. Along with a possible solution.
Netflix shares:
It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.
No matter how long season four is, Stranger Things 5 will mark the end of the show. The Duffers have always said that’s the general length they thought their story would run. But this doesn’t mean the franchise is coming to an end. Their letter also hints at potential spinoffs, which we have previously reported on. So the story for this group of Hawkins residents is coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean Stranger Things is.
Before we look ahead, though, we have plenty of new story to dissect right now. These announcements also came with four posters teasing Stranger Things season four. And each point towards a massive reunion. One that won’t have to worry about time and space. Just a parallel dimension full of monsters.
Stranger Things Season Four Poster #1: An Unlikely Reunion Spot
Netflix didn’t make us twist in Siberia’s icy winds for long when it came to learning Hopper’s fate. An early Stranger Things 4 promo revealed he didn’t die in season three. Instead, he’s alive (though not well) in a Soviet prison. We never expected him to stay there very long. However, the first Stranger Things season four poster in the collection teases a surprising reunion. Not because of “who” he’ll meet, but because of “where.”
It features David Harbour’s Chief in the middle of the prison’s yard. He looks to make sure no one is watching or following, as we’re clearly joining him after something terrible happened. A Demogorgon lies dead, blood speckles the snow, and dropped weapons and torn down gates litter the yard. All with nary a guard in sight. Whatever happened here resulted in death. But something totally unexpected happened too. Chief Hopper is with two old friends from home: Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers and Brett Gelman’s Murray Bauman.
How did they get to Russia? That glowing red circle in the ground is the likely answer. It has vines from the Upside Down coming out of it. The Soviet’s portal-opening machine instantly transported Jim Hopper from Indiana to Russia in the season three finale. Clearly, some kind of door exists between the two places. Could that door go through the Upside Down? Is that how Joyce and Murray made it there? Was that before or after this nightmare bloodbath? How did they learn Hopper was even alive, let alone found their way to him so quickly? Or did he actually make it back to Hawkins first and return with them? If so, why would he go back to a Siberian prison and take his friends with him?
Stranger Things Season Four Poster #2: Eleven Goes Home
At least Hopper, Joyce, and Murray have each other. Poor Eleven is all alone in her poster. She walks through the ruins of the Hawkins Laboratory, where Dr. Martin Brenner imprisoned her and other gifted children. A Coca-Cola can, like the one she destroyed while training there, is among the debris on the floor. As is a shattered piece of a mirror that reflects a younger Eleven as she looked under Brenner’s control. Why is Eleven back at this place at all? Why isn’t she out on the West Coast with the Byers clan? And why is her former self looking at her? Clearly, Jane’s past is not done with her just yet. Is Brenner not done with her either?
But even more menacing is that she is also walking towards a glowing hole from the Upside Down. It’s found in the center of every Stranger Things season four poster. However, this poster’s portal is the most significant since the building has long been a door to the Upside Down. Hopefully, Eleven’s powers are back because, without any allies, she’ll need all the help she can get to survive whatever is happening in this abandoned building.
Stranger Things Season Four Poster #3: A Creepy Clock in a Creepy House
We already thought time travel could end up playing a factor in Stranger Things 4. But whether or not it does, that menacing clock in Creel House, teased in earlier trailers, is telling us something. It also seems to be telling some of Hawkins’ most fearsome young fighters something too. Like, “Stay away from the glowing portal!”
Why is this house so significant? And why is time such an important motif for this season? Eleven’s former reflection staring back at her takes on even more significance when viewed alongside this poster. Whatever is happening, at least this group is together in Hawkins. There’s always strength in numbers. Just maybe not the numbers on that ominous grandfather clock.
Stranger Things Season Four Poster #4: California Nightmare’n
You can take your kids out of Hawkins, but you can never escape it. That much is clear in the fourth and final poster in this collection. The Byers boys and their new friend might be surrounded by palm trees and surfers, but they’re also still surrounded by the Upside Down. (At least Will is still riding his bike. We’d hate for a bad experience previously to ruin his love for exercise.)
The new West Coast denizens do have an old friend with them, though. Mike is also there. So much for fun in the sun on Mike’s trip to see Eleven. It’s not even clear the two will reunite there if she’s back at the Hawkins Lab.
Stranger Things Season Four Poster #5: Apart But Together
Clearly, though, no matter where anyone is around the globe during Stranger Things 4, they’ll all be together again. This final Stranger Things season four combines all of the other ones and shows that each and every person is walking towards one another. They’ll just have to travel through the Upside Down to get there.
And they’ll need Stranger Things’ longest season ever to find one another. Because sometimes, the beginning of the end takes a long time to both make and watch.