Work on Stranger Things 5 begins as season 4 fails to beat Squid Game

Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in STRANGER THINGS 4
(Image credit: Netflix)

Yes, folks Stranger Things 5 is revving its motors up, and it comes at an interesting time, at least if you care about what Netflix show is the biggest of all time (in terms of popularity). But, first, let's break down the details at hand.

The @strangerwriters Twitter account, run by the writer's room for the popular Netflix series, posted a photo of their mostly blank white board yesterday (August 2). The board bears a rough version of a Stranger Things 5 logo, while the tweet is captioned "Day 1."

What this means for Stranger Things season 5 is that everything is right on schedule. We can't find the details on when Stranger Things 4 began its writers room, but we do know what star David Harbour has said about the schedule for the upcoming season.

The actor told GQ UK that "I think we’ll [shoot] next year. They’re finishing writing it this year, and they need to prep and stuff, so hopefully it’ll be this year ... But I think that’s the plan. So it’d probably come out mid-2024, based on our track record." How diplomatic of him.

And, yes, let's go back to the meta story at hand about Stranger Things 4's viewership. As Variety notes, Netflix calculates a season's popularity based on its viewership during the first 28 days of availability.

Stranger Things 4 ended that window with 1.4 billion hours viewed, which places it below the king of the mountain: Squid Game, which had 1.7 billion hours. ST4 even had an advantage of having a 5-hours longer running time of around 13 hours to Squid Game's 8. Squid Game season 2, we should note, is already in the works.

We don't know if the Stranger Things writers will even notice this news, though. The pressure to make Stranger Things 5 a great ending for the series is likely the only thing on their minds.

Consider this your spoiler warning for all things Stranger Things 4!

Analysis: What Stranger Things 5 needs

While we've got a total of 13 questions Stranger Things season 5 needs to answer, we're mostly curious about a handful of choices the show will make. While we've accepted Eddie Munson is dead, we need to know about the scale of the new season. Will the kids and adults of Hawkins still be the top line of defense? How would the U.S. government allow that to happen?

Also, Max's fate seems to be still upside-down a bit, though we think she'll play a role in offing Vecna for good. Similarly, we need Will Byers to help his friends beat the beast.

Lastly, is Stranger Things 5 going to have a larger than usual time jump to allow for the aging of the actors? Or will we just pretend they're all still young? Either way, Stranger Things 4 proved why the series is one of the best shows on Netflix, and we can't wait for more.

TOPICS
Henry T. Casey
Managing Editor (Entertainment, Streaming)

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.

Read more
Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo and Finn Wolfhard (L-R) on the set of "Stranger Things" season 5
'Stranger Things' season 5: Everything we know so far
Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo and Finn Wolfhard (L-R) on the set of "Stranger Things" season 5
'Stranger Things' fan may have stumbled upon the season 5 release date — but I'm not convinced
"Squid Game" season 3.
Netflix just revealed its 2025 slate — ‘Squid Game’ season 3, 'Stranger Things' season 5 and more
The Boys season 4 poster featuring Antony Starr as Homelander
'The Boys' season 5: Everything we know so far
Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg in "You" on Netflix
'You' season 5: Everything we know so far
Stranger Things; The Last of Us; Wednesday
I watch TV for a living — here are 10 shows I can't wait to stream in 2025
Latest in Netflix
L-R: Claude (Marco Calvani), Danny (Colman Domingo), Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte) have their bags packed for Netflix's "The Four Seasons"
Netflix just teased a new comedy series starring Tina Fey, Steve Carrell and Colman Domingo — and we already have a release date
Ensemble cast members of Netflix's "The Residence" cast peak around a doorway
I just started streaming 'The Residence' — Netflix's new murder mystery show already has me hooked
Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) , Keats (Chris Pratt) and Dr. Amherst (Ke Huy Quan) in "The Electric State" on Netflix
'The Electric State' is a total fail — and proof that Netflix has a blockbuster movie problem
Ryu Jun-yeol as Sung Min-chan and Shin Min-jae as Kwon Yang-rae in "Revelations" on Netflix
Netflix’s new psychological thriller is one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2025 so far — stream it now
Cristin Milioti in "Black Mirror" season 7 coming to Netflix
5 biggest Netflix movies and shows I can’t wait to watch in spring 2025
Netflix
3 Netflix movies I'm adding to my watchlist before they leave this month
Latest in News
Apple Watch Series 10
Future Apple Watch models could get a surprising new feature — what we know
iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro Max in hand showing displays
Forget iPhone 17 — iPhone 18 could get this huge upgrade
The new Husqvarna iQ series robot lawn mower.
Husqvarna’s new robot mowers offer GPS for less
Rendered images of rumored foldable iPhone.
Foldable iPhone report just revealed key details — here's what we know
NYTimes Connections
NYT Connections today hints and answers — Sunday, March 23 (#651)
NYT Strands on a cellphone
NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #385 (Sunday, March 23 2025)