The creators behind “Stranger Things” offer a few details about the upcoming Season 4, Volume 2 and how that will begin to lead into the final episodes of the series…
Tears may be shed when “Stranger Things” season 4, volume 2 debuts on July 1.
That’s according to series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, who teased what fans can expect to find when the show returns for the final two episodes in just a matter of weeks.
The series was ultimately split into two parts because the team behind “Stranger Things” needed a bit more time to finish the final episodes but rather than make fans wait until July, they decided to release the first seven episodes in May with the last two coming just over a month later.
While it’s only two episodes, the second half of “Stranger Things” season 4 will run around four hours with the season finale clocking in at almost exactly two and a half hours in length.
That said, the Duffer brothers were asked about the dire consequences that could be awaiting some of the characters when season 4 continues.
“I don’t really want to say, but I would be concerned about the characters going into Volume 2, for sure,” Ross Duffer told Variety. “I hope that that is sort of the sense, because it is a darker season and the kids are no longer kids.
“So everybody is in danger. And there’s sort of an ominous feeling that things might not go well. Now, whether they do or not, you’ll have to watch.”
When “Stranger Things” season 4 ended with episode 7, Nancy was drawn into Vecna’s lair where he began torturing her over the guilt she felt for Barb’s death back in season 1. Her ex-boyfriend Steven Herrington was also in the Upside Down when she got pulled away by Vecna, which means he’s obviously still in a perilous position of his own.
Meanwhile, Eleven finally got her powers back but only after learning that she helped create Vecna in the first place when she destroyed Henry Creel — the orderly at the Hawkins Lab, who was secretly the first child with powers that Dr. Brenner experimented on.
The entire season paid homage to many classic horror films including major influences by “Nightmare on Elm Street,” which meant “Stranger Things” was also much darker than past years. That wasn’t by accident because the Duffer brothers explained that as the kids get older and the stakes continue to raise, the situation is just going to get more dire by as the series starts moving towards the fifth and final season.
“[The main characters] were heading into high school. And it felt like the right time to put them into a full-blown horror film,” Matt Duffer said to EW. “We’re dealing with darker themes, and issues that come along with being a teenager, because for at least Ross and I, and I think for most people, high school is a challenging time. And you’re experiencing a lot of dark emotions for the first time. Whereas for us, middle school was such a magical time. And that was why that was reflected in season 1, whereas this has gotten darker.
“But what you’re expressing to me is great, that you’re feeling a little bit unsettled and unsafe for everybody, and all I’ll say is, that’s great. You should. That’s the intention. We wanted the whole season to feel like everybody is in jeopardy. And we felt like that was something you couldn’t really do as well when they were these cute little kids. But now, you know, everybody’s life is on the line.”
The Duffers promised that many answers not revealed in “Stranger Things” season 4, volume 1 will be answered in volume 2 but not everything.
The good news is when “Stranger Things” season 4 officially comes to an end, there will be a lot of hints about what’s going to happen in the fifth and final season.
“I don’t want to spoil anything,” Matt Duffer said. “But I will say, I think when fans reach the end of season 4, they’ll see more clearly than perhaps with previous seasons, where season 5 is headed. But again, there’s some big reveals still to come.”
“Stranger Things” season 4 continues with the final two episodes that debut on Netflix on July 1.
