A mysterious teaser was released for Stranger Things earlier this year, confirming the Netflix smash-hit was in production. As filming for the series is postponed, fans are trying to work out when season four will eventually be released.
The enticing teaser trailer for the fourth season was released in February this year, and confirmed the surprise return of a fan favourite character.
David Harbour was confirmed to be returning as Sheriff Jim Hopper, after his survival was teased after the cataclysmic events of the third season.
The Stranger Things and Black Widow star recently provided a little insight for the upcoming fourth season during an Instagram Q&A.
During the live chat, David revealed new episodes were “supposed to come out early next year, I think, although I don’t have authority on this.”
READ MORE: Stranger Things season 4 release: Hopper star reveals show return date
With production initially set to start in early 2020, it makes sense that production for an ambitious series such as Stranger Things would be finished in just under a year.
Unfortunately, amid the coronavirus pandemic, most television release schedules are expected to be pushed back by at least a few months.
Bearing this in mind, some fans believe they may have worked out when the series will return in 2021, down to the exact date.
Reddit user killdisney suggested the series should return in mid-July of next year.
They said: “With David Harbour confirming that season four was supposed to come out early next year, it’s easy to presume that a spring release date (maybe March or April) was being aimed at.”
While David confessed his knowledge of the production schedule isn’t entirely precise, it stands to reason one of the lead stars of the show would have a pretty good idea when the series was aiming to return.
Sadly, the COVID-19 outbreak has thrown many major TV productions into disarray, and an early 2021 release for Stranger Things 4 wouldn’t be possible at this stage of the crisis.
The fan added: “But now with production being delayed, and the cases of COVID-19 rapidly increasing domestically, it seems like filming won’t resume anytime soon, definitely not after a two week hiatus.”
The USA is leading the world in confirmed coronavirus cases, so it’s likely production on most US entertainment projects will be delayed for a significant period.
Fans are hoping the new season’s release date won’t be pushed back quite as far as this, though, with some convinced Stranger Things returning in May or June 2021 could still be feasible.
One more fan offered words of encouragement and said: “I hope it’s not that long but if it takes them that long to make it really good, because of lost time, then I’m here for it.”
Stranger Things season 1-3 are available to stream on Netflix.
