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Stranger Things season 5 will be shorter than season 4 – until its "Return of the King" style finale

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By Fay Watson published 5 July 2022

The final season of Stranger Things is making some big changes

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(Image credit: Netflix)
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The Duffer brothers, creators of Stranger Things, have been talking about the ending of their epic Netflix series. Stranger Things season 5 will conclude the show's story –and will feature some major differences from what we've seen before.

Speaking to Collider, Matt and Ross Duffer said they’re planning on trimming down the supersized runtimes that became the norm through season 4. "I think we're aiming for eight again," Matt explained. "We don't want it to be 13 hours. We're aiming for more like 10 hours or something. I think it's going to be longer than Season 1 because we just have so much to wrap up, but I don't think it's going to be as long as Season 4."

The lengthy episodes were a big talking point, with every installment in the fourth season being over an hour long. The Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 finale was the longest, clocking in at two hours and 20-minutes. 

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However, that's not to say every episode will stick to the Duffer's new, shorter mentality. Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the brothers said the series finale will likely be feature-length, comparing it to the 2003 movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which run well over three hours.

Matt explained that it will likely be similar in length to the Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 ending because they want to take their time. He half-jokingly said: "It’s going to be Return of the King-ish with eight endings."

Explaining the comment, he added: "If you just watch Return of the King, it feels like too many endings. If you watch all of them back-to-back, which I’ve done multiple times, it’s exactly right. If it were any shorter, it would feel cheap and wrong."

We’ll have to wait a little longer for the proposed epic ending as Stranger Things season 5 is still a while away. The Duffer Brothers recently shared their plans to start writing it later this summer. 

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In the meantime, we’ve taken a deep dive into the final episodes of Stranger Things season 4. If you’re still reeling from everything that happened, check out our dissection of who dies in Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 as well as some of the biggest Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 Easter Eggs that we spotted.

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Fay Watson
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Deputy Entertainment Editor

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.

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