Netflix Splits Stranger Things 4 in 2 Parts—and Will End Show After Season 5

Nearly three years since Stranger Things viewers last traveled to Hawkins, Ind., one of Netflix’s most popular original series is finally returning in May. Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers said today that the show's fourth season will be split into two parts—and that Stranger Things will end after a fifth and final season. Top line Netflix is separately Season 4 into two parts, or "volumes," as the Duffers call them. Vol. 1 will debut May 27, with Vol. 2 coming five weeks later, on July 1. The fourth season will be set six months after the conclusion of Season 3, with the group of friends struggling with the aftermath of the Battle of Starcourt and separated for the first time. Between the lines While it’s unclear just how many episodes will be in Season 4, it will be the biggest and longest in the show’s history so far with a runtime of nearly twice the length of any previous season. According to creators Matt and Ross Duffer, the season is made up over nine scripts, over 800 pages and took nearly two years to film. When it was released in July 2019, Season 3 of the '80s-themed sci-fi thriller broke Netflix viewership records, with the streamer reporting that 40.7 million household accounts watched the show in its first four days of release in July 2019. To date, Season 3 has amassed 582 million view hours and is the number second most popular English-language series in the Netflix Top 10. Bridgerton claims the title spot. Bottom line The series has been a massive hit for Netflix, but all things must come to an end. The Duffers wrote in an open letter to fans that Season 5 will be the show's last. “Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” the brothers wrote. “At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons.” https://twitter.com/Stranger_Things/status/1494341147833122820 That doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the Stranger Things universe, however. The Duffers hinted at potential spin-offs, writing that there are “still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things,” but first asking that fans stay with them to finish the story of “Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.” Netflix has already been expanding into the Stranger Things universe. The streamer rolled out its first mobile games late last year, including two based off the Stranger Things franchise. Ryan Reynolds Leads Netflix’s Star-Studded Super Bowl Ad for 2022 Film Slate