If my math checks out, "Stranger Things" is only halfway through filming its fifth and final season. Maya Hawke, who portrays the charming Robin and also voices Anxiety in the upcoming blockbuster "Inside Out 2," offered a glimpse into the Netflix hit's swan song during a visit to the "Podcrushed" podcast.
"We're essentially crafting eight feature-length films," Hawke enthused, describing the epic scope of the supernatural drama. "The episodes are nothing short of epic." After delays due to Hollywood strikes, filming for "Stranger Things" farewell eight-episode run officially kicked off on January 8, 2024. Hawke speculated that the production would take around a year to complete.
When Penn Badgely, the cohost of "Podcrushed," commented on the lengthy timeline, Hawke concurred firmly, "Indeed, it is a marathon, not a sprint." She explained that while Matt and Ross Duffer, the showrunners, collaborate with "a stellar team of writers," they themselves are "deeply involved" and "shoulder a significant responsibility" for the final product.
"They are relentlessly committed to the quality of the writing, and thus, it takes considerable time to craft each season," Hawke elaborated. "And even longer to bring them to life on screen." Her description of the final episodes as "epic" and "film-like" somewhat contrasts with the Duffer Brothers' previous statement two years ago, when they compared the final season to the fourth, which boasted several 80-minute episodes followed by three averaging 110 minutes.
"We didn't anticipate" Season 5 to be as lengthy, they had said. However, Shawn Levy, a producer of "Stranger Things" who also directed one of the final-season episodes, told Total Film magazine, "Continuing from Season 4, there's no choice but to expand the scale and depth." He described the narrative of Eleven, Mike, Hawkins, and the Upside Down as "grand cinematic storytelling disguised as a TV series," adding, "Stranger Things 5 is as monumental as any blockbuster movie we've ever seen."
