The first official teaser trailer for “Stranger Things 5” arrived last week, followed soon after by social media rumors that the final season would run a tidy but daunting 19 hours long.
Don’t worry; series co-creator and showrunner Ross Duffer has officially debunked the “leaked” episode runtimes as false.
While it was highly circulated on social media that each of the final eight episodes would be feature-length, with many clocking in at two and a half hours or more, Ross Duffer shot those claims down via Instagram stories, stating that the rumored episode durations are “not even close to accurate.”
Of course, “Stranger Things” has featured robust runtimes before. The fourth season’s finale ran two hours and nineteen minutes, which only added plausibility to the circulating rumors. Especially as Duffer previously teased, “So, needless to say, this is our biggest and most ambitious season yet. It’s like eight blockbuster movies. It’s pretty, pretty insane.”
Netflix hasn’t revealed the official runtimes just yet, but we can expect the streamer and the series’ creators to keep any details about the final season close to the vest. Ross and his brother Matt Duffer, who co-created the global hit series, have been very careful to preserve the element of surprise. “Don’t worry about spoilers—this teaser pulls from every episode except 7, but it’s mostly Volume One and just barely scratches the surface,” Ross Duffer shared on Instagram after the teaser’s debut.
The first four episodes will premiere on November 26, the next three episodes on December 25, and the series finale on December 31. Each volume releases globally at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET.
In the final season, “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.
“As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”
The cast includes Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).
Series creators The Duffer Brothers promise an epic final season ahead. Stay tuned.
