Stranger Things season 5 will feature a time jump to address the main stars’ advancing ages, according to show co-creator Ross Duffer.

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After a nearly three-year hiatus, Stranger Things season 4 returned to Netflix in May 2022, breaking the streamer's record for the biggest-ever premiere weekend for an English-language series.

Only six months is said to have passed between seasons 3 and 4, but the characters have clearly had significant growth spurts after production of season 4 was delayed due to COVID-19.

Duffer recently shared details on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, explaining that there will most likely be a jump in time between the end of season 4 and beginning of season 5.

"I'm sure we will do a time jump," Ross Duffer told TVLine. "Ideally, we'd have shot [seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that. So these are all discussions we're going to have with our writers when we start the room up.

"Believe it or not, we're still working on season 4. We're trying to finish the final two episodes, they're so massive."

While the delays for season 4 were frustrating for creators and audiences alike, judging by the length of episodes in season 4, the show is certainly trying to make up for lost time.

While the first three seasons consisted of either eight or nine episodes, season 4 is being released in two volumes.

The first volume, featuring the first seven episodes of the new run, landed on Netflix on 27th May, while the final two episodes will follow in July, all of which have pretty hefty runtimes (to say the least!).

While the first three seasons consisted of episodes with runtimes mostly under an hour, the first eight episodes in Stranger Things season 4 all exceed the hour-long mark, while the finale will provide a whopping two-and-a-half hours of Upside Down goodness.

Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in Stranger Things.
Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in Stranger Things season 4 Netflix

"We learn a lot every time we make a [season]," Matt Duffer added. "We've learned a lot just working with all of our new actors and the ones that we've worked with for a long time over this year [making season 4], so I'm sure it'll change a little bit from that outline."

He added: "The ending is the hard thing. That's obviously the stressful thing. We really want to stick the landing."

Stranger Things 4 part 1 is currently streaming on Netflix, with more coming on July 1st. Stranger Things seasons 1-3 are also available on Netflix.

Check out our guides to the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.

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Molly MossTrends Writer

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.

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