Stranger Things 5 will feature a time jump

17 July 2022, 10:34

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By Katie Louise Smith

"I’m sure we will do a time jump. Ideally, we’d have shot [Seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that."

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Stranger Things 5 might be a long way away from dropping onto our screens but creators Matt and Ross Duffer are already teasing what fans can expect after the catastrophic events of the season 4 finale.

In case you aren't up to date, here's what's going on: Stranger Things 5 has already been renewed at Netflix, and it will be the final season of the beloved show. According to the Duffers, their pitch for season 5 has already made some Netflix executives cry. They've also teased a whole bunch of plot details about what's to come.

The latest update? It's been confirmed that there will be a time jump between the events of season 4 and season 5 – but just how big is it going to be?

Will there be a time jump in Stranger Things 5?

Stranger Things 5: Will there be a time jump? Picture: Netflix

The Duffer brothers recently told TVLine that a time jump is probable: "I’m sure we will do a time jump. Ideally, we’d have shot [Seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that."

Stranger Things is no stranger to a little time jump here and there. Season 1 took place in November 1983 and we all returned to Hawkins 11 months later for Stranger Things 2, which was set in October 1984. Then, we jumped ahead another nine months to July 1985 for season 3. Season 4 takes place in March 1986, eight months after the Battle of Starcourt and five months after the Byers fam moved to California.

But based on the end of season 4, with the Upside Down now spreading pretty rapidly through real life Hawkins, and the threat of the Mind Flayer, Vecna, and all those Upside Down creatures becoming very immediate, can the show realistically skip ahead to 1987?

(Also, Max is still in a coma... Surely they can't just leave her there for 10 months. Can they?!)

Stranger Things 4 ending shows Hawkins completely devastated. Picture: Netflix

Thanks to another recent interview, fans now have been speculating that Stranger Things 5 might still take place in 1986, breaking the show's trend of being set one year later.

Teasing where the characters – and the viewers – will find themselves at the start of season 5, Matt Duffer told NME that season 5 will dive straight into the chaos.

"Typically in the previous seasons, everything wraps up in a nice bow," he said. "Four and five are really [connected] together. [With five], there’ll be no wind-up time – like even this season, you get to experience the kids and what they’re going through in high school before things start to escalate. Then it gets crazier and crazier and crazier – that’s typically the trajectory."

Five, you’re just going to be right in the middle of it so it’s going to feel very, very different."

Watch the trailer for Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 2

Another issue that might factor into the decision to push the timeline even further ahead is the fact that the younger cast members are all grown up. In season 4, they're all still 15 years old. But in real life, a lot of them will be turning 21 in 2023, when filming is reportedly set to start.

Millie Bobby Brown, who was 11 when she started filming the first season of Stranger Things, is now 18. By the time season 5 likely starts filming, she will be 19.

Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Sadie Sink all turn 21 in 2023. Noah Schnapp will turn 18 in October 2022, with Caleb McLaughlin celebrating his 21st birthday a week after.

Stranger Things 5 will focus on Will Byers and his connection to Vecna. Picture: Netflix

There's no confirmation when season 5 will take place in just yet, but a very specific pop culture issue might crop up if they decide to go beyond March 1988.

Speaking at Deadline's Contenders Television panel, the Duffer brothers joked about potentially ending the show before real life Winona Ryder becomes an actual superstar in the '80s timeline, which will happen once Beetlejuice is released.

"That’s the threshold we can’t cross, which is once Winona is a superstar in the world, like the show has to stop, because [the kids’ heads] will spontaneously combust or something,” laughed Matt Duffer. Ross then joked: "That’s the final scene: the kids go to see Beetlejuice and their heads explode."