The Duffer brothers have revealed that every episode in Stranger Things season 4 will have a runtime of over an hour. Ever since its debut in 2016, the Netflix original series Stranger Things has been one of the most followed series in all of television. The first season introduced a group of nerdy kids who love to play Dungeons and Dragons and fiddle with the world's newly emerging technology. However, when one of them goes missing, it sends them down a path entangled with science experiments, super-powered individuals, and interdimensional creatures. Taking place in the early 1980s, the series was at the forefront of the recent wave of 80's nostalgia and capitalized on many properties from that time to propel the franchise forward.
After the incredible success that the first season of Stranger Things had, it was natural that the next two seasons would be bigger than the first. The second season saw the addition of new characters such as a pair of troubled siblings, Max and Billy, as well as a love interest for Joyce named Bob, portrayed by Lord of the Rings star Sean Austin. The third season added an exciting new setting with the Starcourt Mall, which allowed the creators to double down on the 80's nostalgia by showing off more fashion, brands, and media from the time period. Both seasons also went bigger and badder with the monsters, giving fans a better look into the Upside Down and what kinds of things exist alongside the Demogorgon.
In an interview with Deadline, the creators of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer, state that the upcoming fourth season of the show features exclusively episodes with a runtime of over an hour. The Duffers explain that in order to reveal as much of the lore of the Upside Down as they wanted to, the episodes had to be longer than they ever had been before, resulting in the season's overall runtime being nearly twice that of any previous season. Matt Duffer also mentions that there was so much new content being revealed this season that they needed to get approved for an extra episode which thankfully they did. Matt Duffer's original quote can be read below:
I don’t think we have an episode clocking in under an hour – even in Season 1 there were episodes that were like 35 minutes. You kind of forget that. This season, they’re very long, so I think it’s almost double the length of any season. So that’s one reason it’s taken so long. It does have this sort of epic quality to it. It’s a different feel, for sure.
The Duffer brothers say that this will be the biggest season of Stranger Things yet. After the events of the last season, season 4 is set to take place in multiple different locations including both California and Russia as well as the normal setting of Hawkins, Indiana. The creators have referred to this season of Stranger Things as "their Game of Thrones" due to how separated the stories for each of the characters are this time around. Matt feels that the massive scope of this season coupled with it having the longest runtime of the series so far is bound to result in it having an epic-like quality to it.
The penultimate season of Stranger Things is gearing up to be extremely exciting for fans. With the Duffers confirming the sheer amount of lore that will be packed into the season, fans will receive their best look at the Upside Down to date. The Duffers have acknowledged that the show's 80's timeline is coming to a close, and thus the show must begin to wrap up as well. They have stated that Stranger Things season 5 will be its final one. Stranger Things season 4 is set to hit Netflix with its first set of episodes on May 27, with a second set of episodes being dropped a few weeks later on July 1.
Source: Deadline