Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans were beginning to wonder if “Stranger Things” would ever return to Netflix after a lengthy delay in filming. After an epic postcredit scene at the end of season 3 where we got a glimpse of a Russian facility that managed to obtain a Demogorgon, the world sat on the edge of their seats waiting. Season three’s postcredit scene hinted at the possibility Hopper survived the finale’s explosion and that, while the Hawkins gang naively believed they finally “won,” the Upside Down still has more fight left in it.
After nearly three years, “Stranger Things” has finally returned to Netflix, and in a big way. Not only are all the episodes over an hour-long, but Netflix has also decided to break the season into two volumes. volume one premiered on Friday, May 27, and volume two will premiere on July 1.
Many fans expected a postcredit scene at the end of volume one to hint at what’s to come in volume two. After all, postcredit scenes have become somewhat of a common practice in both film and television thanks to production studios’ (like Marvel, in particular) tendency to hide important clues about upcoming releases in them. Since it’s a tactic that “Stranger Things” has utilized in the past, it’s no surprise fans expected a postcredit scene to hype up the second installment of season four.
“Stranger Things” season four, volume one’s ending employs immaculate storytelling that ties in new characters and enemies with the original plot when it’s revealed Vecna is One (the original gifted child from Hawkins Lab where Eleven was raised). That’s probably why the writers didn’t see the need for the final episode to have a postcredit scene. If you do get all the way to the end of the credits, all you’ll find is a brief trailer for volume two that doesn’t really add to the story’s narrative the way a postcredit scene would.
While you may be disappointed there’s no postcredit scene to hold you over until “Stranger Things” season four, volume two, you’ll find comfort in the fact that you won’t have to wait very long at all to watch the back half of the season, since it premieres on July 1. Additionally, “Stranger Things” has already been renewed for its fifth and final season. So while there’s no postcredits scene, there’s much more “Stranger Things” to come.