Nearly three years after the unveiling of its third season, the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things is set for its long-teased return later this month.
In a shrewd marketing move, Netflix shared Season 4’s first eight minutes (technically the first eight minutes and 47 seconds) to YouTube on Friday, ensuring the discussion surrounding the show’s return continues in the days ahead.
We open with a look at the morning routine of a crossword-crushing individual later revealed to be Matthew Modine’s Dr. Brenner, a character whose villainous assholery has been proven in prior seasons to know no bounds. Later, onscreen text informs us the year is 1979.
Stranger Things 4 debuts its Volume I entries on May 27, followed by Volume II on July 1. See the first eight (but basically nine) minutes of the first episode up top.
In February, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer shared an open letter to fans in which it was revealed the new season will mark “the beginning of the end.” As such, Stranger Things will conclude with its fifth season. In the letter, the filmmakers also teased the possibility of franchise-expanding projects being rolled out in the future.
“There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes,” they said. “But first we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.”
In addition to rolling out an extended glimpse at Season 4 on Friday, Netflix also confirmed the extended nature of this batch of episodes, which will be divided with seven episodes in Volume I and two in Volume II. If that sounds like a perplexingly uneven split, consider this: episode eight runs about one hour and 29 minutes, while the ninth will span nearly two and a half hours. The Vol. I-concluding episode will hit one hour and 38 minutes.
