We are just one week away from seeing the first batch of Stranger Things season 5 episodes land on Netflix, and we can hardly contain our excitement. With this being the fifth and final season, the streamer is making sure one of the best sci-fi series is going out with a bang, with a staggered release and the final episode landing on the site and on the big screen on New Year's Day. But more on that later.
The ending of one of the best shows on Netflix has been a long time coming. It's been three years since the explosive fourth season went out with a bang, and nine years since Will went missing in season 1. Now we are closer to seeing the heroes of Hawkins hopefully defeat Vecna once and for all, there's never been a better time to catch up with previous seasons and get up to speed with the final installment.
Stranger Things season 5 release date
Stranger Things season 5 will be released in three parts: Part 1: November 26, 2025; Part 2: Christmas; Finale: New Year's Day.
The final chapter of the show has been a long time coming. Principal photography on Stranger Things season 5 began in January 2024, and continued right up until the end of the year.
The dates were announced via a brief trailer that aired at Netflix Tudum, an annual event that teases the streaming platform's upcoming season. There were early reports that the new season could be split into two chapters, but three chapters seems pretty appropriate given that each episode is being filmed like its own feature-length movie.
Oh, and the final episode is getting a theatrical release too. Despite Netflix's chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, telling Variety that the Stranger Things season 5 finale would only be available to view on the streamer, the site has listened to fans and will be showing Eleven and co.'s final showdown with Vecna in cinemas as well.
Is Stranger Things season 5 the final season?
In terms of Eleven, her friends at Hawkins, and the Upside Down, Stranger Things season 5 will be the last chapter in this story. In an interview with SFX Magazine, Matt and Ross Duffer said the "book is closed" on the series as we know it. "This really is the end of the story of Eleven and Mike and Lucas and Dustin and Steve, and Hawkins specifically." But that doesn't mean it's the last Netflix series that will be set in the Stranger Things universe.
When announcing the looming end of the Netflix show, the Duffer Brothers hinted at a potential spin-off series: "There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things. New mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes."
"We haven't told anyone the idea yet, much less written it," they added later on. "We think everyone – including Netflix – will be surprised when they hear the concept, because it's very, very different. Somehow, Finn Wolfhard – who is one crazy smart kid – correctly guessed what it was going to be about. But aside from Finn, no one else knows!"
It was revealed earlier this year that the Duffer brothers would be jumping ship from Netflix to Paramount, but they won't be abandoning the long-mooted Stranger Things spin-off, with the brothers even offering a rare update, claiming that the spin-off won't expand the Stranger Things Universe's "insanely convoluted mythology” but instead “live in a bit of a different world,” with "connective tissue" to the original show.
But we do know that a Stranger Things animated series, produced by the Duffer brothers, is on the way, titled Stranger Things: Tales From '85. In celebration of Stranger Things Day 2025, Netflix released the first look at the series, showing animated, younger versions of Eleven, Will, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Max. However, the original cast will not be returning to voice the characters.
In terms of the main series coming to an end, the cast have already started to say bye to the show, which will no doubt continue until the last episode drops on New Year's Day.
"It was really emotional," Eleven actor Millie Bobby Brown recently told GamesRadar+, when we asked how it's been slowly saying goodbye to the series. "I will forever be attached to that show, and I'm proud of it. It's a lot of hard work that everyone's put into it. And I'll always be grateful for the Duffer Brothers for hiring me, and for Netflix for trusting me with such an amazing character. It's an amazing season. I can't wait for everyone to see it. I hate gatekeeping all the information, so I'm really excited for everyone to enjoy it."
The Duffers, on the other hand, say they have taken stock of their journey on the show so far and "learned any possible lesson there is to learn and season 5 will be perfect." However, they have no doubt that fans will find an issue with the ending: "I think that the chances of that are 0.5%," said Matt Duffer to GamesRadar+.
Stranger Things season 5 trailer
Netflix dropped the official, full-length Stranger Things season 5 trailer on October 30, which you can see above.
The video opens with Mike talking about how awful it is to be "stuck" in military quarantine, which is in place to stop the Upside Down from leaking beyond Hawkins. But the higher-ups' efforts are simply not enough, as Vecna is back with a vengeance. In a montage, we see glimpses of the epic battle ahead, with the US army taking on demogorgons, Nancy wielding a gun, and Lucas rescuing an unconscious Max. At the end, we see Vecna approach Will, asking him for his help "one last time." What could that mean?
That's not all, as Netflix has also treated fans to the first five minutes of the final season. The clip below calls back to the very first season, showing a de-aged Will meeting Vecna for the first time while poor little Will sings 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' in an attempt to soothe himself.
If you are looking for a trailer specifically for season 5 volume 1, then the first Stranger Things season 5 trailer is basically that. In fact, Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers said that this first season 5 trailer is basically spoiler-free because it's "mostly" Volume 1 and "just barely scratches the surface."
The full list of episode titles is:
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 1: 'The Crawl'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 2: 'The Vanishing of [BLURRED]'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 3: 'The Turnbow Trap'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 4: 'Sorcerer'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 5: 'Shock Jock'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 6: 'Escape From Camazotz'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 7: 'The Bridge'
- Stranger Things season 5 episode 8: 'The Rightside Up'
We also know, in some cases, exactly how long each episode will be, after Ross Duffer recently put an end to months of reports by revealing exact runtimes for each episode in Volume 1. Surprisingly, given season 4's bumper runtimes, not a single episode in clocks in at over 90 minutes. Episode 1 will be one hour and eight minutes, episode 2 is 54 minutes, episode 3 is one hour and six minutes, and episode 4 is one hour and 23 minutes. The Duffers also confirmed to Variety that the Stranger Things finale will clock in at "around two hours" – a breeze compared to the season 4 finale's 142 minutes.
Stranger Things season 5 plot
The official synopsis for Stranger Things season 5 reads: "Scarred by the opening of the Rifts, our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished – his whereabouts and plans unknown, As the anniversary of Will's disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming – and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they've faced before. To end this nightmare, they'll need everyone – the full party – standing together, one last time."
Before Netflix released the synopsis, the Duffer Brothers offered up some clues as to what to expect – and teased that they have the whole series' conclusion pretty firmly mapped out. "We know what the ending is," Matt Duffer previously said during an interview with SFX. "It's conceivable that it changes, but I think it's unlikely because it's one of those endings that just feels, and has always felt, right. It also feels sort of inevitable. Then when you come up with it, you're like, 'Oh yeah, well, that is absolutely what it has to be.'"
Season 4 concluded with every group – in Nevada, Indiana, and Russia, respectively – somewhat unknowingly teaming up to take down Vecna. While Max baits his mind at the Creel House, Robin, Steve, and Nancy set fire to his defenseless physical form in the Upside Down. Simultaneously, Mike and Will dunk Eleven in a makeshift sensory deprivation tank, and her consciousness finds its way to Max to assist her in facing off against the big bad. But as Will states towards the end of episode 9, Vecna is far from defeated.
"Now that I'm back in Hawkins, I can feel him. And he's hurt, he's hurting, but he's still alive... He's not gonna stop, ever, not until he's taken everything... everyone... We have to kill him," Will solemnly tells Mike.
In an interview with Collider, the showrunners revealed that Will is going to be the "primary focus" of season 5, as the final episodes "circle back to season one."
Matt explained: "We're starting to see his coming of age, really, which has been challenging for a number of reasons; some of which are supernatural. But you're starting to see him come into his own."
"I think you'll see that with a couple of the character arcs, not just with Will," Ross added. "But also with Steve and Nancy, and her relationship with Jonathan, where things are not fully resolved. The characters have maybe made steps, like in the case of Will, but that journey isn't over yet."
"I can just tell you that I'm very very excited for what's to come. I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to," Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, more recently teased to Forbes. "The way they closed the show is just perfect – the story started with Will, and it’ll end with Will."
Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike, seems to have similar feelings about how things turn out for his character. "I was so happy with his ending, and I don't know, I was satisfied, but I was also very confused and sad, but also very happy," he said. "I felt like I was in a dream or something. None of it felt real. I don't know, it felt perfect."
Although more focus will be given to Will, it looks like something is going on with Eleven thanks to a clue from a poster Netflix shared. The poster shows that Eleven, or Jane Hopper here, is missing, last being seen on 13th June 1986 (which also happens to be a Friday, spooky). With season 5 being set during the fall of 1987, maybe Eleven is still missing during this chapter's events? Is she in hiding for her own safety or has she been taken to the Upside Down?
Prey director Dan Trachtenberg, who is helming an episode of the upcoming final season, suggested that the series won't just end in a big battle: "I don't think Stranger Things falls into a category of television seasons like Game of Thrones where the pilot is cool, slows down, and the last two episodes are the big battle," Trachtenberg continued. "I can tell you, and pointing to other seasons, there is rock and roll throughout the entire season."
In November 2023, the writers' room shared the setting of the season 5 opener, through a direction on the script that read: "The sound of cold win. Groaning trees, and a child's voice singing a familiar song... Could it be The Clash's 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' that Wil and Jonathan used to sing together often? Or 'Running Up That Hill', perhaps?
After the Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 ending, there are also plenty of theories floating around about what could happen. We suspect that time travel might factor in a big way, seeing as the Upside Down was revealed to be stuck in November 1983. One theory even suggests we're heading to 1989 in a mini-time jump. Some viewers have been speculating if Eddie Munson could return as a new villain. Other theories say Max could be the key to Vecna's plan, Dungeons & Dragons may predict who the next big bad will be, or that Eleven's 'lost sister' will help her defeat Vecna at the end of the season.
In an interview with Tudum, the Duffer brothers said that season 5 will have a couple of big reveals early on, which'll affect how the show moves forward. "We were like, 'We know what's going on in the Upside Down, more or less, but we want it to be unknowable. We want it to be mysterious,'" Matt Duffer explained. "But they were like, 'Yeah, but can you write it down?’ And so we wrote it all down."
The Duffers also confirmed to Variety that there will be an 18-month time jump between seasons 4 and 5, with everyone back in Hawkins and living under military quarantine, which may explain why the (apparently teenage) characters now all look like they're in their mid-20s.
We got a closer peek behind the Upside Down's curtain than ever before in season 4, but it sounds like season 5 is going to finally reveal the alternate reality's secrets once and for all, with the Duffers confirming that season 5 will finally explain what the Upside Down is and close the book on any lingering questions.
In 2025, the Duffers gave us some more intel on Eleven's powers, telling Empire: "She has better control over her powers and can use them in more innovative ways. The closest example, I’d say, is probably the Force."
"I think everyone was pretty worried, honestly," Wolfhard told TIME Magazine, when asked about the final season. "The way that Game of Thrones got torn to shreds in that final season, we’re all walking into this going, 'We hope to not have that kind of thing happen. But then we read the scripts. We knew that it was something special."
According to that same TIME article, Vecna has disappeared at the start of season 5 and the gang "must hunt him down while avoiding the military, which has imposed a quarantine to cover up the portal that Vecna opened between the Upside Down and Hawkins." This explains the aforementioned military quarantine (and who Linda Hamilton plays in the fifth and final season: a higher-up in the military). The writer from TIME also quite literally tripped over Barb's body, which the gang stumbles upon one final time while looking for Vecna in the Upside Down.
Speaking of the Upside Down, the Duffers used a new type of shot they call "demo-vision," which are fight scenes from the perspective of a Demogorgon. Whoa. And as for the fifth and final season setting up any of the planned spin-offs, Matt told Variety: "We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters. This is a complete story. It's done."
Stranger Things season 5 cast
The cast photo to mark the beginning of Stranger Things season 5 filming confirmed that all of the major cast members are back. That means Millie Bobby Brown will be back as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard will reprise his role as Mike Wheeler, and Sadie Sink will be seen again as Max Mayfield.
Other actors almost certainly geared up to show their faces again include Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), and Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers). Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna/Henry Creel/One, is also back as the show's big bad.
There are some new cast members too with Linda Hamilton joining. The action icon is perhaps best known for her iconic portrayal as Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise, though no other details about her character have been announced.
"I've watched every season with relish. I just love it. So, it's kind of, like, imposter syndrome where I don't [feel that I] fit in there," she previously told US Weekly. "When you really buy into something, you don't see yourself in it. So, I think in a way, it kind of ruined the show for me. I never watch [a project], once I'm in something. It would just completely take me out of the reality of it to see myself in there. So, I won't be watching [season 5]."
Additionally, Netflix posted a montage video of season 5 in production to celebrate 8 years of Stranger Things but in doing so, revealed three new cast members; Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux. Although their roles aren't known just yet.
However, it seems like the four new additions may be the only ones as Matt Duffer has revealed that he and his brother are looking to solely "focus on the OG characters" as they approach the show's endgame. "I just like shaking it up, so we shake it up by changing the plot or adding in a new monster," he told Indiewire. "We're doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5."
One actor who won't be back is Joseph Quinn, who was introduced as Eddie Munson in season 4. His character was killed by a bunch of Demobats in episode 9 of season 4 – for more, check out our deep dive on everyone who dies in Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2. “I love that Joe Quinn is toying with people! But no, he’s dead,” Matt Duffer confirmed (via Variety). "Joe is so busy anyway, that everyone should know he’s not coming back. He's shot like five movies since! When the hell has he got time to come and shoot Stranger Things? No, sadly, RIP. He’s fully under that ground."
Another character not returning is Argyle. Eduardo Franco, who plays Jonathan Byers' pizza-delivering stoner buddy in the show, has confirmed he never got a call about reprising the role in season 5.
For more on what to watch, check out our guides to the best Netflix movies and the best sci-fi movies on Netflix.
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