'Stranger Things' May Last Through Season 5

The second season of Stranger Things doesn't arrive on Netflix until October 27, but the sci-fi horror series has already been confirmed to have a third season. Furthermore, Matt & Ross Duffer (aka The Duffer Brothers) have expressed their desire to have the series last four seasons, not wanting to overstay their welcome. But there's a chance Stranger Things could end up lasting five seasons.

Series producer Shawn Levy has indicated there will definitely be four seasons of Stranger Things, but the possibility of a fifth season has not been ruled out. However, audiences shouldn't expect the series to continue beyond that.

Here's what Shawn Levy told Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of Stranger Things season 5:

"Hearts were heard breaking in Netflix headquarters when the brothers made four seasons sound like an official end, and I was suddenly getting phone calls from our actors' agents. The truth is we're definitely going four seasons and there's very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes I think very unlikely."

It sounds like there are discussion behind the scenes about guaranteeing that the show lasts a little longer in order to milk the show's popularity for as long as possible without running out of steam. Before the Duffer brothers gave any inkling that they were looking at likely ended after four seasons, they had originally envisioned the series as having a four- or five-season run, so this isn't necessarily surprising. If anything, that's good news, because it means the series wouldn't have to be puffed up in order to expand a four season story into five seasons.

Ross Duffer said they never intended for this story to continue for a long time, mostly because eventually the characters are just going to get sick of Hawkins, Indiana being terrorized. "I think there's going to come a point where why aren't these people leaving Hawkins? Like we're going to stretch credibility. It wasn't intended to be a seven-season thing," Ross said.

Netflix certainly isn't pushing the Duffer brothers to expand their story beyond whatever ending they have in mind. Matt Duffer said, "After it became successful, we had one of those big meetings with Netflix over dinner and they were like 'We don't want this going on that long.' They were very supportive of it."

Keep in mind that nothing is set in stone at this point. So far, only a third season has officially been ordered, there are plans for a fourth season, and maybe a fifth season. But since those seasons are still years away, there's not any pressure to sort that out yet. Matt Duffer said, "It's stupid to put an end date on it right now because we don't know."

In the meantime, Stranger Things season two arrives exclusively on Netflix on October 27.