Stranger Things season 4 episodes will be longer than any other season

By the time Stranger Things season 4 part 1 is back, it will have been two years, 10 months, and 23 days since we last saw our friends from Hawkins on our screens. But you know, who’s counting?

The new season has been split into two parts. Stranger Things season 4 part 1 will be released May 27 and the second coming shortly after on July 1. We’re just over a month and a half away. We’re almost there!

It’s certainly been a long wait. And based on a recent interview, it may have been worth it. Ok who are we kidding, it’s definitely going to be worth it! This season is going to be epic. Recently showrunners Ross and Matt Duffer, aka the Duffer Brothers, attended the Deadline Contenders TV panel and shared som exciting news.

Stranger Things season 4 episodes over an hour long

The Duffer Brothers confirmed that all the episodes in the upcoming fourth season are over an hour long. When Netflix decided to release both volumes on holiday weekends, they knew we would need extra time!

Comparing the run times throughout past seasons, all of the episodes in Stranger Things season 1 were under an hour. The finale of season 2 was the only one over an hour at 62 minutes. The longest running episode was season 3’s finale, “The Battle of Starcourt,” clocking in at 78 minutes.

It’s not clear just how long the fourth season’s episodes will be, but it sounds like the show has a lot of story packed for what’s ahead. At the panel Matt shared:

"I don’t think we have an episode clocking in under an hour… This season, they’re very long, so I think it’s almost double the length of any season. So that’s one reason it’s taken so long. It does have this sort of epic quality to it."

And there’s a couple of reasons why there’s so much story to tell. The season takes place in three different settings: Hawkins, California where the Byers now reside, and Hopper who is due for a rescue mission from Russia. It’s already difficult to balance everything out with so many characters as well. So they definitely needed the extra time!

Another piece of exciting news and a reason why the episodes are longer is because we’re finally diving into the mythology of the Upside Down. Each season we learn a little bit more about it, but fans still don’t really understand how the frightening world works. This is something fans (certainly this one!) have been wanting to learn more about. Here’s what Ross said:

"Back when we did Season 1, Netflix just kept going ‘Can you explain all this mythology to us?’“ said Ross. “So we wrote this giant 20-page document, which talked about everything in terms of what was going on and what exactly the Upside Down was. And then each season we’re just sort of peeling back the layers of that onion, so to speak. But this season, we really wanted to really get into it and [revealing] some of those answers. But to do that properly, we needed time, so it just became bigger and bigger."

While the wait has been excruciatingly, now that I know the episodes we’re going to get lengthier episodes, I think I can make peace with the show. And since the Duffer Brothers decided the fifth season, which was renewed by Netflix in February, would be the last, they’re probably trying to fit in as much story as possible before we reach the end.

Stranger Things season 4 part 1 drops on Netflix on May 27.