Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Stranger Things season 4.
While audiences are still reeling from the recent two chapters, David Harbour is already looking ahead to Stranger Things season 5, revealing it could begin filming soon. Season 4 of the Netflix series picked up eight months after the major battle at the Starcourt Mall, where Harbour's Hopper seemingly met his demise with the destruction of the Russians' machine opening a gate to the Upside Down. The new season not only confirmed Hopper's survival and capture by the Russians, but also saw Winona Ryder's Joyce work with Brett Gelman's Murray to help free him from where he is being held prisoner and fight a horde of Demogorgons.
Stranger Things season 4 took nearly three years to finally hit Netflix, with creators the Duffer brothers building the largest season yet full of movie-length episodes and production being hampered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For many, the wait ultimately proved to be worth it as Stranger Things season 4 scored largely positive reviews from critics and audiences alike and broke numerous viewership records for Netflix upon both its May and July premieres. With the final two episodes having finally aired and audiences now eagerly awaiting the final season of the show, one star is bringing an exciting update for Stranger Things season 5.
In a recent interview with GQ about the recent season of the hit Netflix series, David Harbour offered an update on Stranger Things season 5. The Hopper actor confirmed that the Duffer brothers are nearly finished writing the final season and that it will likely start filming in 2023, though he is hoping to get started even sooner. See what Harbour said below:
“I think we’ll [shoot] next year. They’re finishing writing it this year, and they need to prep and stuff, so hopefully it’ll be this year. But I think that’s the plan. So it’d probably come out mid-2024, based on our track record.”
Harbour's reveal that Stranger Things season 5 may start filming next year and is already nearly done being written is sure to come as exciting news for fans of the series, especially following season 4's cliffhanger ending. The most recent episode of the show saw Hopper, Joyce and Murray finally make it back to the US and reunite with the young heroes, all of whom narrowly stopped Vecna from completely destroying Hawkins by opening gates to the Upside Down. Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 also saw the heartbreaking deaths of new fan-favorite Eddie Munson and the initial demise of Sadie Sink's Max, though the latter was seemingly brought back to life by Eleven and remains in a coma, though Eleven is unable to find her spirit in the void.
The confirmation that Stranger Things season 5 is nearly ready to kick off also proves much more promising for a sooner return than its predecessor, which shut down production for a full six months due to the pandemic. Though COVID-19 continues to affect productions in a few major areas around the globe, including Los Angeles, many studios have properly adjusted to shooting with safety protocols, making it likely Stranger Things season 5 will see filming go smoothly and wrap in time for a 2024 release date, as Harbour predicts. In the meantime, audiences can revisit the entirety of the mammoth Stranger Things season 4 streaming on Netflix now.
Source: GQ