Why Stranger Things 4 won’t be the final season

Stranger Things 4 is officially happening! Most importantly, it doesn’t sound like season 4 will be the final season Netflix’s best series.

Stranger Things is officially coming back for season 4! Netflix announced the renewal recently and shared a teaser trailer for the new season, and you can watch that below.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the future of Stranger Things. We know the show won’t last forever, and based on comments from those associated with the show, including the creators of the series, the Duffer Brothers, there’s a chance season 4 could be the last season of one of the best shows of the streaming era.

The Duffer Brothers claimed season 4 would be the final season in an interview with Vulture. Shawn Levy, the executive producer, came out shortly after and said there would be at least four seasons, and they’d probably do a fifth season, according to EW. After that, Levy said, he didn’t know what the future would hold for this story and these characters.

That’s a good sign, honestly. It means that no decisions were actually made at that time, and since the show has only grown in popularity, it’d be very much worth everybody’s while to make a fifth season.

Most importantly, Netflix did not announce Stranger Things 4 would be the final season when they announced the renewal. For their popular shows, Netflix almost always does this. They just did it for Grace and Frankie, one of their best and most popular shows. I think it helps the storytellers when crafting what will be the final season, and it gives fans time to come to peace with their favorite shows ending.

No fans like to be blindsided, and since Netflix, unfortunately, has had to do that in the past, it makes sense that they would want to get out ahead of it.

That’s the biggest reason I don’t think Stranger Things will end with season 4. Netflix would like to give the creators and writers ample time to prepare a final season, and since they didn’t announce the show is ending, I’m going to assume that means there are more seasons are in the works.

On top of that, there’s reason to believe there is a lot more story left to be told.

I see a lot of different options left on the table for Stranger Things. In terms of what could happen in the new season, there’s the mystery around The American in Russia. If it’s Hopper, most fans expect there will be some sort of rescue effort. There’s also the Mind Flayer that needs to be dealt with. We also know the Russians still have something in the works, so that’s three storylines that could be the focuses of season 4.

We also know that Hawkins will be left behind in the new season to a certain extent. The Byers are gone, and we’ll likely catch up with them in their new location.

There’s so much still left up in the air after the third season.

There’s also a theory out there, and I really like this one, that the show will allow these characters to grow up and then bring them back to Hawkins one last time. There are many, many similarities between this show and Stephen King’s IT, and that’s basically what happens in that story.

I really hope that’s what happens in Stranger Things 5 or even Stranger Things 6.

Even with all that said, one part of the renewal news caught me a little bit by surprise. The Duffer Brothers just signed a deal to make new shows and movies for Netflix after Stranger Things. 

In their statement about the new deal, the Duffer Brothers made reference to a “return trip to Hawkins.”

Here’s the full final sentence of their statement, via Variety:

"“We can’t wait to tell many more stories together — beginning, of course, with a return trip to Hawkins!”"

There’s something that feels a bit final about that “with a return trip to Hawkins.” They didn’t say with the “final trip to Hawkins,” so that’s a good sign, but it just seems to be worded in a weird way that could indicate this is the final time they are going back to the world of Stranger Things in season 4.

If they were expecting more seasons, they could have said something like “with a few more trips to Hawkins” or something like that. I’m probably overthinking it, but it just caught me a little by surprise.

More than likely, Stranger Things will be back for a fifth season based on the information we know so far. Stay tuned for more news about the Stranger Things 4 release date, production and plot developments!

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