Stranger Things Writers Resume Work on Season 5

09/27/2023 12:00 pm EDT

148 days after the Hollywood writers' strike turned the film and TV industry Upside Down, Netflix's Stranger Things writers returned to work Wednesday. In May, showrunners and creators Matt and Ross Duffer announced on the official @strangerwriters Twitter that the fifth and final season of Stranger Things delayed production as Hollywood writers took to the picket lines to demand fair pay from studios and streamers like Netflix. "Writing does not stop when filming begins," the Duffer Brothers tweeted on May 6th. "While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out."

The WGA strike was declared over as of 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, September 27th, with the Writers Guild of America West Board and Writers Guild of America East Council voting to lift the restraining order and officially end the strike after nearly five months. 

"This allows writers to return to work during the ratification process, but does not affect the membership's right to make a final determination on contract approval," the WGA wrote in a statement, adding in its official Strike Termination Agreement: "Any striking writer who, prior to the strike period, was employed by a Company on a project or show ... shall be returned to such employment upon termination of the strike, provided that writing services continue to be performed for the show."

"We're back," the Stranger Things writers account tweeted at exactly 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. The scripts for Season 5 of Stranger Things are believed to be written; writing for the final season started on Aug. 2. While shows are permitted to reopen previously shuttered writers' rooms and resume writing or rewriting scripts, Stranger Things 5 won't begin production until after the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors' strike reaches a resolution. 

"I think it answers an insane amount of questions about the lore of Stranger Things, the world-building," actor Finn Wolfhard said in a recent interview about Stranger Things season 5. "I think a lot of people will be happy with getting back. It's the last season, so we kind of want to get back to the roots of why the show was so special in the first place, and why the dynamics are so special in the first place, and sort of getting back to that. It's gonna be really exciting."

Wolfhard added, "I'm excited, obviously, to go back and shoot it. I think it's gonna be very sad, but I'm also just excited, as a fan, to get into it, and I'm excited to see where everyone — I didn't even know how it ends yet, truly. I've only read the first three [episodes], so we'll see. But yeah, I'm excited to see where all the characters' journeys go." 

Stranger Things season 4 premiered in 2022 and ended on a cliffhanger. In 2022, star David Harbour predicted a mid-2024 release date — but with productions shut down for months amid the dual strikes, Stranger Things season 5 likely won't hit Netflix until at least 2025.

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