In a nutshell:
The final season of the Duffer brothers’s mega hit Stranger Things is set to bring the tale of Eleven, Hawkins, and the Upside Down to an epic conclusion.
Is there a trailer for Stranger Things Season 5?
“At long last… we can begin.” Yes! The final battle against Vecna is upon us. Netflix dropped a full official trailer on October 30.
We see the Hawkins crew back together again, preparing for their biggest challenge yet. Vecna is organizing his forces in the Upside Down, and the town of Hawkins is under military quarantine. “I’m really starting to lose it, being stuck in here. No end in sight,” says Mike, with shots of grim-looking military outposts. It seems evident from the trailer, too, that the years-long time jump for the series is happening.
As the trailer progresses, we see the Upside Down encroaching more and more on Hawkins, and a terrifying demogorgon and demodogs invasion. Shots show Dustin crying in Steve’s arms and a sobbing Nancy washing blood from her hands. Lucas is seen carrying Max out of the hospital, with a Demodog in pursuit. A major character death feels imminent and end times seem ever-near.
Action scenes in the trailer also hint at the biggest, most fantastical face-off of the series. We also see more of some new characters, including Dr. Kay (played by Terminator’s Linda Hamilton) and a group of kids. Stranger Things season 5 seems to be bringing things full circle with Will, too, who in the first season was the one who opened up the Upside Down. “Will. You’re going to help me. One. Last. Time,” says Vecna, pursuing Will.
Previously, a teaser revealed all of the final season’s episode titles, as well as a behind-the-scenes first look and the date announcements. Watch them in full below.
Who is returning for Stranger Things Season 5?
Series regulars Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Noah Schnapp (Will), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Joe Keery (Steve), Maya Hawke (Robin), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Priah Ferguson (Erica), and Brett Gelman (Murray) all survived the Season 4 finale and will be returning.
According to the Duffers, Eleven is “in training mode.” “She’s in a warrior state, which is the first time you see Eleven like that at the beginning of a season,” they told Tudum. “As for her mindset, all she is thinking about is protecting her friends. Her friends are her chosen family, so she will do whatever it takes to protect them.” Dustin is “in a bit of a funk,” finding it more and more difficult to deal with keeping everybody safe and figure out Vecna, while also contending with unpacked baggage of the previous season. Lucas is also feeling the stakes and the burden.
With Will, who was out of Hawkins last season, we’ll see the effects of him being back in that realm, while Max is still “in a tough place.” “Eleven was searching for her in the Void and couldn t find her, so Max is definitely not the way she once was,” explained the Duffers. “There’s still a small glimmer of hope, though, and her friends are hanging on to that.”
Then there’s Mike, who is “back in leadership mode.” “He’s taken it more upon himself to help plan out these missions, and he and the whole gang are devoted to finding Vecna and ending this,” the Duffers said.
There will, however, be some notable absences. Joseph Quinn’s Hellfire Club captain Eddie, a new fan favorite, sadly perished after being attacked by a swarm of Demobats in Episode 9. Mason Dye’s vengeful jock Jason Carver was also killed—his body ripped apart by an interdimensional gate in the Creel House—as was Matthew Modine’s Dr. Martin Brenner, who was shot by a U.S. army sniper.
Less certain? The fates of Paul Reiser’s Dr. Sam Owens, who was last seen inside the Nina Project as it was attacked by the military; Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna, who though temporarily defeated is believed to still be alive; and, of course, Sadie Sink’s Max. In the season finale, Vecna’s attack on the latter caused her heart to stop for over a minute and, even though Eleven was able to revive her, she was shown in a later scene to be in a coma. When Eleven then reached into her mind, she was unable to find her consciousness. While it’s still unclear if Max will ever wake up, it’s almost certain that Sink will make an appearance of some kind in Season 5.
And as for new additions to the cast? As mentioned, there’s Linda Hamilton in a still-quite-mysterious role of a government scientist named Dr. Kay. Her character is expected to be an antagonist, who is hunting down Eleven and is part of a military effort to contain Demogorgons from the Upside Down.
“I love the show so much,” the Terminator star and ’80s icon says in the first-look segment. “I really am a fan.” Also joining the ensemble are Nell Fisher, Alex Breaux, and Jake Connelly.
What can we expect from Stranger Things Season 5?
The fourth season ended with the battle between Vecna and the residents of Hawkins coming out into the open for the first time: his attack on Max allowed the gates to open and rip through the neighborhood, causing an earthquake that claimed many lives. As the Upside Down began to invade Hawkins, the camera cut to black. So, as it stands, the mission for Season 5 is to kill Vecna once and for all, and save what remains of their hometown.
The Duffer brothers first spoke in more detail about the project at a Netflix event on November 13 2023. They described the final season as “kind of a culmination of all the seasons, so it’s got a little bit from each, whereas before, each season was so distinct—three is our big summer blockbuster season with our big monster; four was the psychological horror. I think that what we’re trying to do [this time] is go back to the beginning a little bit, in sort of the tone of one. But also scale-wise, it’s more aligned with what four is. So, hopefully, it’s got a little bit of everything.”
“I think what’s unique about this season is that it starts a little bit in chaos because our heroes ultimately lost at the end of Season 4,” Ross Duffer told Tudum. “We usually set up their normal life and how they’re going about school, and then we introduce the supernatural element. But in this case, this season is sprinting from the start.”
They also added that, although the supernatural elements of the show will remain center stage, character development will be equally crucial. “We have so many characters now, most of whom are still living, and it’s important to wrap up those arcs,” they said. “A lot of these characters have been growing since Season 1, so it’s a balancing act between giving them time to complete their arcs and also tying up loose ends and doing our final reveals.” It’s set to be an emotional conclusion, too. “We did [make] our executives cry, which I felt was a good sign,” they said of the meeting in which they pitched the complete arc to Netflix. The title of the first episode of Season 5: “Chapter One: The Crawl.” See you in Hawkins.
When will Stranger Things Season 5 be released?
The fifth season will arrive in three drops—the first portion on November 26, the second part on Christmas Day, and the finale on New Year’s Eve.
