How long are the episodes in Stranger Things season 4?

While the first three seasons consisted of either eight or nine episodes, season 4 is being released in two volumes.

The first volume, featuring the first seven episodes of the season, landed on Netflix on 27th May, while the final two episodes will follow in July.

But that's not the only factor making season 4 bigger (and better?) than ever before: there are also some pretty hefty episode runtimes (to say the least!).

While the first three seasons were made up of episodes with runtimes mostly under an hour, the first eight episodes in Stranger Things season 4 all exceed the hour-long mark, while the finale – at two-and-a-half hours long – is basically the ideal length for a blockbuster movie.

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer previously compared season 4 to Game of Thrones in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, seemingly alluding both to the darkness of the next chapter as well as the extra-long episodes.

But with a runtime of 82 minutes, even the longest episode in Game of Thrones' eighth season– titled The Long Night – fails to rival some of the upcoming instalments in Stranger Things season 4.

The staggering length of the episodes won't have come as a complete surprise to fans, with Stranger Things actor Joe Keery – who plays Steve Harrington on the show – having previously warned RadioTimes.com and other press that there's "definitely more than an hour for each episode".

"Personally, I feel like it's one story," he said. "That's how we all read it, I think. But I think just because of the scope of the show is so large, it makes sense that this season is split into two different parts."

Meanwhile, speaking about the scale of season 4, new cast member Joseph Quinn, who plays Eddie Munson, added: "The scale of the whole thing [is massive].

"I think, conceptually, I'm looking forward to people seeing it. It's just so much bigger and darker, and I think that people aren't really going to expect it."

Check out the episode runtimes for Stranger Things season 4 below.

Stranger Things season 4 part 1 episode lengths

Here are the final episode runtimes for Stranger Things season 4 part 1:

Episode 1 – 1 hour 16 minutes

Episode 2 – 1 hour 15 minutes

Episode 3 – 1 hour 3 minutes

Episode 4 – 1 hour 17 minutes

Episode 5 – 1 hour 14 minutes

Episode 6 – 1 hour 13 minutes

Episode 7 – 1 hour 38 minutes

Stranger Things season 4 part 2 episode lengths

While part 1 is made up of 7 episodes, part 2 only features 2 episodes.

Having said that, the finale is longer than most movies, so fans don't need to worry about missing out.

Episode 8 – 1 hour 25 minutes

Episode 9 – 2 hour 30 minutes

Why are the episodes so long in Stranger Things season 4?

There has been no explanation as to why season 4’s episodes have such hefty runtimes.

Having said that, the per-episode budget for Stranger Things Season 4 is reportedly £30 million, which clearly allows for experimentation with episode length.

The decision to split the season into two parts – seven episodes in May and a further two in July – is also an odd one, but could be an attempt to sustain interest from fans, who often forget about a new season on the streamer.

We saw this recently with Netflix series Ozark, which was split in half for its final season with a short break in between the two halves.

Stranger Things 4 part 1 is released on Netflix on Friday 27th May, with more coming on July 1st. Stranger Things seasons 1-3 are now available on Netflix.

Check out our guides to the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix. If you’re looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.

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