A common complaint about the most recent season of Stranger Things has been the length of the episodes. The Duffer Brothers have now weighed in and suggested season five will be shorter.
While season four has been met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, the episode lengths, which range between 64 minutes to a whopping 150 minutes, have had mixed reactions.
Split into two parts, the first batch of seven episodes dropped in May, followed by two more later at the start of July. Some of the latest instalments in Stranger Things were closer in length to movies than TV episodes.
Netflix previously confirmed that there was set to be around 13 hours of content in the fourth season of the show.
"I don't think I care enough about Stranger Things to sit through multiple movie length episodes," one fan complained at the time the lengths were confirmed.
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In the era of binge watching, episodes that are practically the length of a feature film could discourage fans from watching the final season all in one go.
The Duffer Brothers have now confirmed that the next instalment - which will likely air around 2024 - will be much shorter and closer to 10 hours of content overall.
Matt Duffer told Collider: "We thought season four was going to be eight [episodes], and they were going to be regular length. So if you had interviewed us before four, that's what I would've said.
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"I think we're aiming for eight again. We don't want it to be 13 hours. We're aiming for more like 10 hours or something.
"I think it's going to be longer than season one because we just have so much to wrap up, but I don't think it's going to be as long as season four."
Ross Duffer hinted that the structural evolvement of the story - rather than fan backlash - is what will account for the shorter final season.
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He said: "This season, for instance, it was two hours before our characters even realised the monster was killing people in Hawkins. They know what the threat is now, and so that will help speed it up."
This may be music to a lot of Stranger Things fan's ears.
Stranger Things season four is available to stream on Netflix now.
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Topics: Film and TV, Stranger Things, Netflix
Gregory Robinson