Nearly three years have passed since audiences last took a trip to Hawkins, Indiana, but only six months have passed there. That’s when season four of Stranger Things picks up when it debuts May 27 and you can catch an extended glimpse right now. That’s because Netflix just released the first eight minutes of the first episode, which you can watch below.
In addition, the streamer revealed that season four, running nine episodes in total, is five hours longer than any other season prior. How is that possible? Well, all the episodes are longer than usual, with the final three of the season each significantly longer. We’re talking 98 minutes for episode seven, 85 minutes for episode eight, and “almost two and a half hours” for the season finale, episode nine.
The season is split into two volumes, as previously announced, but the split is also a bit unorthodox. The first seven episodes will debut May 27 with the final two dropping on July 1. Then, of course, in the future, there’s one more season coming as well. Hopefully, it won’t take three years though.
All of which starts with these eight minutes. Check it out.
Wow. So season four starts in the past, four years before the 1983 start of the show. We’d always known that Brenner was frightened/intimidated by Eleven but we’d never (as far as I can remember, I haven’t revisited the first three seasons in a while) seen where that began. Seems like it began here and holy crap. Eleven kills all of her fellow kids? Did she see it as an act of mercy? Also, did you ever think you’d see de-aged Millie Bobby Brown? That’s some Luke Skywalker shit right there.
Anyway, it’s a very intriguing, exciting, violent place to start this season which, it seems, is going to dig much deeper into all the Stranger Things mythology. It starts May 27.
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