Netflix recently announced that their primary focus is to release the upcoming seasons of their most popular shows, including Stranger Things season 5 and Wednesday season 2. However, it seems that fans of the former will have to wait quite a bit longer before they can get their hands on the new season. In an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Millie Bobby Brown, the lead actress of Stranger Things, disclosed that the filming for season 5 is far from over, with approximately nine months of shooting still remaining.
Taking into account that the previous seasons reportedly required 5-8 months of post-production, it is likely that season 5 will also need a similar amount of time, if not more, as it is expected to be heavily reliant on VFX, particularly for the final battle scenes. Therefore, it may be some time before the show is ready for release, and fans will have to wait patiently for an unspecified amount of time.
The production timeline for TV shows can be a lengthy process, and that’s especially true for a show like Stranger Things. With the filming of the fifth season set to take around nine months and another 5-8 months for post-production, it’s estimated that we may not see the release of season 5 until anywhere from May 2025 to August 2025. This means that it’ll be over a full year from now before the next season is available to viewers.
What’s more, if season 5 is indeed released in 2025, it would effectively mark three full years since season 4 debuted in 2022. And that wasn’t even all of the episodes, as post-production was still ongoing, and the second part didn’t arrive until July. Given this timeline, it’s likely that Netflix will break season 5 into two parts, as they’ve been doing with many of their largest shows.
However, this slow release schedule is one of Netflix’s biggest problems. The gaps between seasons of shows are becoming increasingly large, with many at least two years long and Stranger Things season 5 trending towards three years. Even with the writer and actor strikes taken into account, it would still have been at least two and a half years.
While Netflix is not the only service with this problem, with more shows and greater demand for their return, it’s starting to happen more frequently, particularly with big series. In contrast, some platforms seem to have the timing down pat. For instance, Hulu’s The Bear will soon release its third season, with a year between each of the series so far.
It’s quite certain that the upcoming release is going to be an absolute blockbuster, irrespective of the duration of its release delay. I am quite curious to know what Netflix is thinking as to what could possibly replace it once it ends. I am unable to think of any other show that could possibly match the level of engagement and excitement that this show has generated among its viewers. The only possibility that comes to mind is if Wednesday, the recently announced show, can grow into a super-monster for multiple seasons. Alternatively, there is always the possibility that something totally unexpected will spring up out of nowhere and capture the attention of the audience in the same way.
