The end is nigh as Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 5 looms ahead, and it reportedly had a bigger budget than Avengers: Endgame.
Netflix likely had no idea that it had a pop culture juggernaut on its hands when Stranger Things debuted almost a decade ago in 2016. Now, it’s coming to an end with the final season as the Hawkins crew try to defeat Vecna and permanently stop the threat of the Upside Down.
The streamer is looking to dominate the holidays with its grand finale by splitting Stranger Things Season 5 into three parts across November and December.
It might seem like an unusual way of releasing one of the biggest TV shows of the last decade, but considering how much Netflix has spent on Season 5, it makes total sense.
Stranger Things Season 5 reportedly cost between $50 and $60 million per episode
Ever since the first season of Stranger Things tapped into nostalgia for horror movies like IT, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Carrie, it captured the imagination of audiences worldwide. Netflix continued to spend more money on each subsequent season, and Season 4 cost the streamer $270 million.
But Puck News recently reported that each episode of Stranger Things Season 5 cost between $50 and $60 million. That means that Netflix spent roughly $480 million making the final season.
Yes, you read that right: $480 million.
That’s more than the $356 million Marvel Studios spent on Avengers: Endgame, which was the culmination of over a decade’s worth of movies and raked in almost $2.8 billion at the box office. Plus, they had to pay actors like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Josh Brolin as well as a horde of other A-list stars.
That’s not to say that the Stranger Things cast isn’t made up of some huge names, but they’re maybe not quite on the same level as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, (although David Harbour is a member of the New Avengers thanks to Thunderbolts!)
It remains to be seen whether the battle against Vecna will have the same cultural impact as Avengers: Endgame, but the show is one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons in recent years.
So it’s understandable why Netflix is choosing to spread Season 5 out across the end of the year. All eight episodes reportedly have runtimes between 90 minutes and two hours, so buckle up. Here are the three release dates.
- Volume 1 — 4 episodes releasing November 26
- Volume 2 — 3 episodes releasing December 25
- Volume 3 — Final episode releasing December 31
Jake Paul hits back at viral AI videos mocking him