Supersized ‘Stranger Things’ Episodes Will Not Continue Into Season 5

Fans shouldn’t expect any more supersized episodes of Stranger Things. As the hit Netflix original series looks ahead to its final season, creators the Duffer Brothers – Matt and Ross Duffer – teased that Stranger Things Season 5 will likely return to normal-length episodes. Stranger Things Season 4 Volumes 1 and 2 eclipsed a runtime of more than 13 hours across nine episodes, making the season almost five hours longer than the previous three seasons, with nearly every episode surpassing the hour mark and the Season 4 finale clocking in at nearly two and a half hours long.

In a new interview with Collider‘s Steve Weintraub following the epic Season 4 finale, the creators revealed they are “aiming for more like 10 hours” for Season 5, the final season. Matt revealed that they are currently “aiming for eight” episodes for the final season, adding, “We don’t want it to be 13 hours. We’re aiming for more like 10 hours or something.” While an eight-episode season is the current goal, he said they believe Season 5 is “going to be longer than Season 1 because we just have so much to wrap up, but I don’t think it’s going to be as long as Season 4.”

Although neither of the Duffer Brothers dished too many details about the upcoming season, they credited a shorter Season 5 in part to the structure. Ross noted that in Season 4, “it was two hours before our characters even realized the monster was killing people in Hawkins.” However, in Season 5, “they know what the threat is now, and so that will help speed it up,” suggesting the action and suspense will be there right from the beginning of the season. However, opening up about the epic length of the most recent season, Matt explained that they initially thought “Season 4 was going to be eight [episodes], and they were going to be regular length.

(Spoiler warning) After the Hawkins kids ultimately failed to defeat Vecna in Season 4, they now have just one more season to defeat Vecna and put an end to the Upside Down for good. The Duffer Brothers and Netflix announced in February that the upcoming fifth season is the last for the hit Netflix original series, which first debuted on the platform in 2016. In a letter to fans, the creators shared, “seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four but – as you’ll see for yourselves – we are now hurtling toward our finale.” Stranger Things Season 5 does not yet have a premiere date. The Duffer Brothers told Collider writing on Season 5 is set to begin during “the first week of August.