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A fake episode runtime list for Stranger Things season 5 went viral last week, claiming that all episodes of the upcoming season were over two hours long. Seeing that the post was spreading far and wide online, one of the creators of the Netflix show, Ross Duffer, finally took to social media to deny its authenticity.
"Lol not even close to accurate," he simply wrote on his Instagram stories along with a screenshot of the false runtimes (via What's On Netflix).
In the fabricated document, we can see a list of all season 5 episodes and their respective titles, which were announced by Netflix last year. Each episode is assigned a runtime, ranging from 2 hours and 5 minutes to 3 hours for the finale. The fake image features a watermark that reads "Property of Netflix", which has led some users online to believe it was an official announcement.
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Thanks to Ross Duffer, we can confirm that this information is not accurate, as the runtimes for the episodes have not been announced yet by Netflix. We do know, however, that the episodes are going to be quite long.
During an appearance in Podcrushed a year ago, actor Maya Hawke said season 5 is going to be "basically eight movies", as the episodes will be "very long". This year, her co-star Finn Wolfhard told Collider that "not every episode is like a full-blown movie, but there are definitely some episodes this year that the runtime is definitely film-length."
Runtimes aside, Netflix finally dropped the first Stranger Things season 5 trailer a few days ago, teasing a final bloody battle between the beloved protagonists and the terrifying Vecna.
As per the official synopsis: "Scarred by the opening of the Rifts, our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished – his whereabouts and plans unknown. 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."
Stranger Things season 5 is set to be released in three parts, with the first landing on November 26, followed by the second half on Christmas Day (December 25) and the finale on January 1, 2026.
For more, check out out our picks of the best Netflix shows to stream right now.
Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.
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