Stranger Things: Netflix Celebrates 5-Year Anniversary

It’s been five years since viewers traveled to 1983 Hawkins, Indiana, for Strangers Things‘ first season. Since then, it’s become Netflix‘s biggest franchise, spanning three seasons with a fourth on the way. Stranger Things has also spread into games, comics, and live experiences. Netflix took a moment to mark the five-year anniversary by sharing the show’s opening scene on Twitter, in which fans were introduced to the Demogorgon, the kids and their Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party, and Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein’s killer electronic soundtrack. From Demogorgon’s escape to Will Byers’ disappearance, you can give the entire clip a watch below.

Stranger Things 4 is currently in production. Sadie Sink, who joined the show as Max Mayfield in its second season, says the stakes in the new season are higher than ever.

“So we started filming season four, I don’t even know when it was, but it was before the pandemic, and then we got like a month of filming done, then we had to stop for I guess seven or eight months, and then we came back to work, and things were completely different,” Sink told Collider in a recent interview. “So I think the real challenging part was just adjusting to the new rules and the regulations that were in place on set. That was a big adjustment. But yeah, I think we were all just so grateful to be able to work. And we’ve been working for a while now and creating something really amazing.

“The scale of the show just gets bigger and bigger each year so yeah, it’s just been really incredible to see where they’re going with the storyline. It’s really amazing this year. And just how the stakes are just so much higher. Higher than they’ve ever been.”

Speaking to ComicBook.com, stunt coordinator Hiro Koda teased that the new season would also be the darkest yet. “All I can tell you is that season four is… It’s darker. It’s going to be epic. There’s lots of great surprises and all your favorite people are in it,” he said. “It’s going to be so good. It’s so epic. I’ve gotten to read through almost eight scripts now, so it’s pretty awesome. I don’t know how many we’re going to get.”

Stranger Things stars David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, and Matthew Modine. The fourth season will also welcome new cast members Amybeth McNulty, Myles Truitt, Regina Ting Chen, Grace Van Dien, and Robert Englund.

How do you feel about five years of Stranger Things? Let us know in the comments. Stranger Things is streaming now on Netflix.