Following the release of the official Stranger Things Season 5 trailer, social media was flooded with viral rumors claiming that each of the upcoming eight episodes would exceed two hours in length.
A circulating template showing extended runtimes for all episodes gained massive attention, sparking widespread speculation among fans.
However, the show’s creators, the Duffer brothers, were quick to shut down the misinformation. Ross Duffer took to his Instagram Story and responded to the viral post, saying “lol not even close to accurate,” officially debunking the exaggerated claims about the episode lengths.
While fans may have been excited about the idea of movie-length episodes throughout the season, the actual runtimes remain unconfirmed. Still, hints from the cast and crew suggest that longer episodes are definitely in the mix for the final season.
Earlier this year, the Duffer brothers told Entertainment Weekly that they had already filmed over 650 hours of footage for Season 5, fueling expectations for a content-rich final chapter. Meanwhile, Maya Hawke, who plays Robin, hinted during her appearance on the Podcrushed podcast that the team is “basically making eight movies,” emphasizing how long and cinematic the episodes feel.
Finn Wolfhard, who portrays Mike Wheeler, also shared insights with Collider, stating that while not every episode feels like a movie, some episodes will definitely have a film-length runtime, while others may fall in the 40 to 45-minute range.
Despite the viral buzz, the official episode durations have not yet been confirmed by Netflix. What is certain is that the highly anticipated first four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 will begin streaming on November 26.
Until further details emerge, fans will have to wait patiently for more accurate information about how long they’ll be immersed in the supernatural world of Hawkins this final season.