Stranger Things season 4 won't arrive this year - and fans are upset

(Image credit: Netflix)

Stranger Things season 4 is the most anticipated Netflix production right now. Work is continuing on the next installment in the Duffer brothers' critically-acclaimed series, and fans have been holding out hope that it could be released this year.

It's time to dampen those expectations, though, after one of the show's main cast recently revealed that it won't arrive this year. According to Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler, Stranger Things season 4 won't launch until sometime in 2022.

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Wolfhard made the prediction during a recent chat with a fan via online meet-and-greet platform Fanmio. Asked if season 4 would land on Netflix before the year is out, Wolfhard said that "It should be out sometime next year, hopefully".

Fans aren't happy with Stranger Things season 4's potential release date

As you can imagine, fans are unhappy with the possibility that season 4 won't arrive until 2022. One Twitter user described the plausible air date as "ridiculous", while another voiced their frustration over the showrunners making fans "wait even longer" for the next installment.

I'm loosing interest. I understand there's a pandemic we've just had but we've barley had anything news related in the last year not even episode titles or some form of teaser besides hopper being alive.April 18, 2021

It's understandable why fans are annoyed about the wait, given that it'll be two years since season 3 aired in July 2019. However, there are clear mitigating circumstances behind the delay for Stranger Things season 4.

The Covid-19 pandemic, for one, has set multiple movie and TV show productions back. It was obviously unsafe for any filming to take place on Stranger Things season 4 until recently and, with episodes and scenes still left to shoot, the next season's release date was obviously going to be pushed back as a result.

That's before you factor in other series and films that the cast and crew were busy with pre-pandemic. The likes of Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) was shooting Enola Holmes and Godzilla vs Kong, while David Harbour (Jim Hopper) is part of Marvel Studios' upcoming Black Widow movie. Couple that with the Duffer brothers still needing to finish penning Stranger Things season 4, and there's enough evidence as to why it is taking a while to finish production.

There's every possibility that season 4 could arrive this year, but it'll be dependent on how quickly principal photography and post-production are finished. We suspect that we won't see Stranger Things return to our screens until early 2022, and that would be alright with us if it means that production on season 4 can safely move ahead.

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