Stranger Things season 5 is likely to feature a significant time jump

We’ve still got the second half of Stranger Things season 4 to look forward to, but thoughts and questions about the Netflix hit’s fifth and final season are already coming up.

Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 will feature the remaining two episodes with episode 8 running at 85 minutes and the season finale coming in at 2 hours and 19 minutes! The Duffer Brothers, a.k.a. the series’ creators, have previously mentioned that the end of season 4 will “dovetail directly” into the fifth season.

What that exactly means, we’re not sure. And though this was their intention, I wonder if the plans may be altered a bit. The series creators spoke to TV Line recently regarding the show’s timeline going into the fifth season.

Stranger Things season 5 will have a time jump

Co-creator Ross Duffer shared that he’s “sure we will do a time jump,” according to the news outlet. When all productions were paused due to the pandemic, the brothers took the extra time they found to outline and map out out season 5. So heading into season 4, they had an idea of where they wanted to go in the final season and what it would look like.

Ross also shared they ideally would have wanted to shoot season 4 and 5 back to back, but there was “no feasible way to do that.” That plan may have worked out for them to avoid a significant time jump. But circumstances out of their control happened, and so it seems like they’ll have to restructure some of their original ideas.

This definitely makes sense, and is a good move. Throughout the seasons, the show has only jumped forward a few months or a year in time. But with how quickly the young leads are growing, the series is going to have to move forward in time a bit. All of the actors are either 18 or older right now.

And we all know the wait between seasons 3 and 4 took almost three years! So the series certainly takes its time to produce and release new seasons. If that’s the case, by the time season 5 hits, there’s no way it would make sense that the kids are still sophomores in high school. The show needs the time jump, and it seems it’s very likely that’s what we’re going to get.

Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 drops July 1 on Netflix.