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It feels like we’ve been waiting forever to hear back about Stranger Things season five. The show began filming in January 2024 and remains shooting as we push into the second half of the year. We still have no idea when Netflix is going to release season five, but we have a bit of an idea of why it is taking so long, thanks to Robin’s actress, Maya Hawke.

She’s refused to divulge any plot details to anyone, even her famous father, but Maya Hawke did explain to the Podcrushed podcast why it was taking so long for us all to get back to Hawkins. Previous delays were beyond everyone’s control, like season four having to shut down due to the 2020 pandemic and season five getting derailed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes. However, a big reason why season five is taking so long is the sheer size of its episodes.

“Our showrunners, Matt and Ross [Duffer], take a lot of responsibility. They have an amazing team of writers, but they’re very involved,” she explained on the podcast. “They write a lot and they are very intense and serious about the quality of the continued writing, and it takes a long time to write each season, and it takes a long time to shoot them.”

Specifically, about Stranger Things season five, Hawke added, “We’re making, basically, eight movies. The episodes are very long.”

That doesn’t mean that we’re getting eight two-hour episodes, but each one probably leans closer to 90 minutes. Similar to how Game of Thrones extended its usual runtime to try to fit everything they wanted to do to wrap up the story during the final season, we can expect the Duffer Brothers and Netflix to want to take their time to let each character have their moment to shine in season five. It would certainly explain why production has been going on for nearly all of 2024.

As we all collectively wait for Stranger Things season 5, here's the keys to getting ready:

• How to watch Stranger Things in chronological or release order
• Getting to know the Stranger Things season 5 cast
• There needs to be more death in Stranger Things, says co-star Gaten Matarazzo
• The Stranger Things time jump between season 4 and 5 has been confirmed by Netflix - and it raises some serious questions
• "They land the plane," David Harbour describes the Stranger Things finale, which he calls its "best episode"