<em>Stranger Things</em> Season 5: Everything We Know
Readers, I’m sure a good many of you are here because Stranger Things season 5 is seemingly still lost in the Upside Down. It’s been three years since season 4, and all the Hawkins children are fully formed adults. It feels like the Duffer Brothers have put out more hours of behind-the-scenes footage than actual episodes of the show. And yet Netflix promised at its recent Upfront event that the “epic” conclusion to the supernatural series is still on the way.
Stranger Things stars Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Noah Schnapp came out onstage to welcome audiences in New York City as Netflix shared some brief footage to press teasing the upcoming season. The streamer did not reveal a release date for Stranger Things season 5 at the presentation. But fear not! Hopefully Netflix is simply saving that info for its own Tudum event, which takes place May 31.
In a lengthy Instagram post this past December, Ross Duffer wrote, “We’ve been telling this story for nearly a decade now.” For fans, that’s how long it’s felt between season 4 and season 5. “Everyone involved was determined to bring this story to a satisfying conclusion,” Duffer continued, teasing a neon image of a 5 and a behind-the-scenes shot of Millie Bobby Brown. “They poured their hearts and souls into it, and we couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve accomplished. We can’t wait to share it with you all next year. Until then—over and out.”
For now, all we know for certain is that season 5 is the last time we reunite with the Hawkins crew. Season 5 could arrive later this year—as Netflix swore—or in 2026. We asked Joe Keery for a hint about the finale last June, but his lips were sealed. “I got nothing,” he told Esquire. “Nothing at all. I mean, I can say we’re working on it. Maybe I can’t even say that. So you got that at least.” Still, he did have something to say about his castmates. “It’s a unique experience to be on a ride with people for this long and one that I’m sure I will not experience again,” said Keery. “I’m just trying to soak it up and enjoy.”
When you’re ready, here’s what we know about the final chapter of Stranger Things.
Don’t worry, there are anywhere from 80 to 120 hours of the show left, depending on how many volumes the brothers divvy season 5 into. According to Maya Hawke, season 5 will consist of “basically, eight movies.” The actress told the Podcrushed podcast that the series has felt “a little bit cursed” following the Covid-19 pandemic, the actors strike, and the writers strike but that the upcoming episodes are “very long” to make up for lost time.
Are There Any New Characters in Season 5?Linda Hamilton, who famously starred in The Terminator, will join season 5. What’s harder, dealing with a cyborg assassin or Vecna? I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
Hamilton announced the casting news at Netflix’s previous Tudum event in Brazil. After greeting her Terminator costar Arnold Schwarzenegger, who leads Netflix’s Fubar, she said, “Good to see you, Arnold. Let’s get dinner soon ... and everyone else, I’ll see you in Hawkins.”
Will Eddie Come Back for Season 5?In our interview with Joseph Quinn, the show’s resident deviant, we asked whether the actor would like to return to Hawkins (despite his character’s fate). “Yeah, of course,” Quinn said. “He’s great fun to play, and they’re great people to play with. So yeah, I would be up for coming back, but it feels like his story’s been told, slightly, to me.” At least there’s a chance.
Regardless, Eddie’s death is sure to affect our heroes—especially Dustin, who had to watch his buddy die in front of him. In an interview with TV Insider, Dustin’s portrayer, Gaten Matarazzo, seemed to have very specific thoughts about how his character will live with the trauma. “There’s no denying that there’s going to need to be a shift there and there’s going to need to be a bit of focus on the fact that nobody can really come back from seeing that.” The rest of the actor’s thoughts are worth checking out here:
[Dustin] has dealt with loss in the past. He’s seen horrible things, but to have a very close friend of his brutally die, not just there in front of him, but directly with him is [another thing]. The one thing that I’m always thinking about going into it is that we don’t necessarily see it happen, but Dustin would’ve had to have left [Eddie] there to get out and leave himself. And that’s something that I was thinking about during the scene with Eddie’s uncle. Because of the leg injury and because of Dustin’s lack of upper body strength, he would’ve needed to leave [Eddie’s] body there while needing to get out himself. And if they’re going to play with that, it’s something I’ll be thinking about quite a lot.What Will Happen in Season 5?
How about we start with the dimensional rift that turned Hawkins into a disaster site? The war between the Upside Down and Hawkins is fully on. The final shot shows massive, hellish clouds looming above the neighborhood—and a field of flowers slowly dying. It seems pretty clear that with the doorway opened between the two realms, the oft-terrorized Indiana town will morph into the red-and-black hell our favorite kiddos have fought to destroy throughout Stranger Things. TBD how long residents will be able to convince themselves that it was all just an earthquake.
Does the gang have one last fight in them? They’d better. Even though Vecna, you know, will be busy creating a new world order, he’ll surely seek out Eleven to get some sweet revenge. Since we’ve gradually learned that the Hawkins Lab prodigies essentially have godlike powers—they can resurrect the dead, I guess!—she’ll most likely level herself up before the final battle. Here’s my one theory: She’ll have some help. And not the Dusty-Bun-with-a-garbage-can-lid kind.
Either Will or Max will develop powers, somehow. Maybe Will’s time in the Upside Down imbued him with abilities he’ll only uncover as he nears adulthood. And Max? After she just survived Vecna’s grasp, maybe the Duffer brothers will write in a Harry Potter–esque Boy Who Lived situation, where she’s scarred from the near-death experience but has some kind of an edge against the baddie because of it. Either way, she’ll probably wake up from her coma soon enough, but Eleven will have to pull more mind tricks to make it happen. However it all goes down, season 5 will most likely pick up with our heroes struggling to put the Upside Down back in the Upside Down—or destroy it entirely.
Speaking of Will, it seems like the poor kid is in some serious trouble. In an interview with Variety, actor Noah Schnapp seemed to know something we don’t. He said he has “hope for a coming-out scene” and clarity on Will’s connection to the Mind Flayer, then added, “And I’ve always been wondering, why was Will the first victim and the first one captured?” Interesting! Noah, you can mess with Doja Cat. Don’t mess with us.
Elsewhere in the Stranger Things–verse, if you have any doubt that Vecna will return, the actor behind the villain, Jamie Campbell Bower, confirmed it to The Hollywood Reporter. “Let me put it this way: I know about season 5. Take from that what you will,” Campbell said. Want a good laugh? At the time, he teased how his character would change in volume 2. “I think what you will see is more of the human aspect of Vecna,” he said. “Let me say that much. And there’s a huge, great, cool thing—I need to keep my mouth closed!—but there’s a huge, great, cool thing you see as well!” A huge, great, cool thing? Your character turning out to be the singular evil force behind the entirety of Stranger Things is a wee bit more than a huge, great, cool thing!
Now, begin your prayer circles so that none of your favorite characters will die at the monstrous hands of Vecna in the series finale. Brace yourselves for the horror, people.
esquire
