Maya Hawke Says Final Season of 'Stranger Things' Will Have Long Episodes: 'Basically, Eight Movies'

Maya Hawke is promising a genuinely cinematic ending to Stranger Things. 

The 25-year-old histrion -- who plays Scoops Ahoy worker Robin Buckley, a play 3 addition, successful the amusement -- precocious appeared connected Penn Badgley's Podcrushed podcast and opened up astir play 5 (aka the last installment) of the deed Netflix drama. 

“We're making, basically, 8 movies," Hawke told the Gossip Girl and You star. "The episodes are precise long."

Of course, the amusement is nary stranger to agelong episodes. The 4th season's 9 chapters -- which were released successful 2022 successful 2 parts -- ranged successful magnitude from 64 minutes (episode 3) to 144 minutes (episode 9). 

The mega-popular, 12-time Emmy Award-winning bid is created and produced by Matt and Ross Duffer (aka the Duffer Bros.), who Hawke says person enactment their bosom and psyche into each segment, particularly the last. That is portion of the crushed it takes truthful agelong to marque 1 season, she explained.

"Our showrunners, Matt and Ross, instrumentality a batch of responsibility," Hawke shared, referencing the three-year spread betwixt play 4's merchandise and the expected accomplishment of play 5. "They person an astonishing squad of writers, but they're precise involved."

She continued, "It takes a agelong clip to constitute each season, and it takes a agelong clip to sprout them."

Speaking of shooting, the last play is currently successful production down successful Atlanta, Georgia, aft a agelong intermission owed to the consecutive 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which importantly delayed play 5. The formed yet reported for filming successful January and is inactive shooting arsenic of aboriginal July. 

In June, ET spoke with Hawke -- the girl of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman -- astatine the premiere of her caller Disney-Pixar film, Inside Out 2, wherever she opened up astir the bittersweet ending of the amusement that enactment her connected the representation and efficaciously launched her career. 

"It's already starting to beryllium heartbreaking, you know? I mean, it's the extremity of a truly agelong journey," Hawke said of filming Stranger Things' last season. "Longer for immoderate of my castmates, even, than for me. So it's truly sentimental."

She added, "But arsenic a precocious summation formed member, I consciousness similar it's my occupation to beryllium present to facilitate their feelings and conscionable beryllium grateful and excited to person been a portion of it astatine all."

The Duffer Bros. Netflix bid premiered successful July 2016, and has captivated millions of fans with each caller season. After the highly anticipated 4th play deed the streaming level successful May and July 2022, it became the most streamed amusement of the year with 52 cardinal minutes watched, trumping retired longtime instrumentality favorites similar Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy and NCIS. 

Stranger Things follows a radical of teen friends successful the 1980s arsenic they analyse and unrecorded done a bid of supernatural events successful their hometown of Hawkins, Indiana. The horror-drama besides stars Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery. 

While Netflix has seemingly confirmed that the full formed volition instrumentality for the 5th season, ET has independently vetted that Jamie Campbell Bower -- the 35-year-old histrion who plays Henry Creel/Vecna -- will reprise his role arsenic the large atrocious successful the last chapter. 

"I'll archer you this, I came from Atlanta," Bower told ET astatine the June premiere of Horizon: An American Saga. 

Meanwhile, Joseph Quinn -- who played fan-favorite quality Eddie Munson successful play 4 -- recently shared with ET that contempt his character's untimely but wildly heroic (and rockstar) death, helium would perfectly beryllium down to marque 1 last appearance. 

According to Quinn, the "chances are high" that helium would instrumentality to the acceptable and springiness the fans 1 last performance. "I emotion those guys! I'd emotion to accidental hello," the histrion -- who is presently booked and engaged with A Quiet Place: Day One, Marvel's Fantastic Four and Gladiator II -- shared. 

Even if his quality isn't revived, Quinn, 31, shared that helium is afloat assured successful the Duffer Bros., the formed and the crew. 

"I'm definite they're gonna present it successful a beauteous epic way," Quinn added. "I person nary doubts."

Stranger Things play 5 premieres connected Netflix successful 2025. 

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