The season was met with positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, the visuals, action sequences, realistic themes, soundtrack, emotional weight, and the darker, more mature tone, though some criticized it for being overstuffed due to the lengthier episode runtimes. Tom Wlaschiha, Nikola Đuričko, Mason Dye, and Sherman Augustus appear in recurring roles. Jamie Campbell Bower, Joseph Quinn, Eduardo Franco and Cara Buono also star. Returning as series regulars are Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Matthew Modine and Paul Reiser, while Brett Gelman was promoted to series regular after recurring in the previous two seasons. The season was produced by the show's creators the Duffer Brothers, along with Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Iain Paterson and Curtis Gwinn. The first set of seven episodes was released on May 27, 2022, while the second set of two episodes was released on July 1, 2022. The fourth season of the American science fiction horror drama television series Stranger Things, marketed as Stranger Things 4, was released worldwide on the streaming service Netflix in two volumes.
