Stranger Things season 5: Everything we know so far about the Netflix show's final chapter
Filming has wrapped on the show's final season

After three years...Stranger Things season 5 finally has a release date. Actually, it has ꦅthree.
The final season of one of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best shows on Netflix is almost upon us - and we're not ready. But if we're judging by the trailer that premiered at Netflix Tudum, we're in for quite the ride. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:There's an aniꦡmated spin-off on the꧙ way, t꧑oo, so there's still more adventures to be had in the Upside Down.
Below, we've got everything right here that you need to know about Stranger Things season 5, from the r🍎elease date(s) and first trailers, behind-the-scenes photos to all our best plot theories and a list of evไery confirmed cast member. Scroll on and let's go back to Hawkins.
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 theꦡ year.
The dates were announced via a brief trailer that aired at Netflix Tudum, an annꦏual event that teases the streaming platform's upcoming season.
There were early reports t🌊hat the new season could be split into two💖 chapters, but three chapters seems pretty appropriate given that each episode is being filmed like its 𝔍own feature-length movie.
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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✤ – 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 Broth💦ers 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 writꦫten 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!"
澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:A Stranger Things animated series, with the Duffer brothers set to executive-produce, was als𝕴o announced. The show will be titled Stranger Things: Tales From '85, but otherwise plot details and characters have yet to be released. It's unclear whether the show will star new ch🦩aracters in the same universe or not.
Most recently, at the 2025 Next of Netflix event, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:the Duffer Brothers teased even more spin-offs, confirming that some are "already in the works". Although they wouldn't give any more details or clarification as to what exactly these are, Matt Duffer emphasized that they wouldn't do them for the sake of it, they have to be "awesome" to be given the green ligᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚht.
As he told the crowd: "It's a bit early at this point to talk about them, but we're deeply involved in every one – it's very important to us that anything with the Stranger Things name🥀 on it is of the highest quality and not repetitive – that it has a reason to exist and always blazes its own path. And also, it needs to basically just be... awesome. Or we need to think it's awesome. And there are a lot of what we think are awesome things in the pipeline."
"It was really emotional," Eleven actor Millie Bobby Brown 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:recently told GamesRadar+, when we asked how it's been slowly saying goodbye to the series. "I will forever be a꧅ttached to that show, and I'm proud of it. ൩It'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."
Stranger Things season 5 trailer

The first trailer, which aired at Netflix Tudum, consists of a montage of clips from seasons 1-4 spliced together with a brief scene of a scared Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono), Mike Wheeler suited ⭕up with a bunch of yet-to-be-named new characters, before ending with Will Byers yelling "Run!" as officials have their guns pointed at something terrifying that's about to burst out of the ground. You c🌺an watch the teaser above.
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'
Stranger Things season 5 plot
For now, the exact Stranger Things season 5 plot is unclear, but the Duffer Brothers have 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 unlik🍰ely 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 hasౠ 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 as♛sist 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 , the showrunnersꦡ r🌜evealed 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 supernatuᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚral. But you're starting to see hi✅m come into his own."
"I think you'll s🗹ee that with a couple of the character arcs, not just with Will," Ross added. "But also with Steve aꦛnd 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 cꦗan 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 . "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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: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 ཧher 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 t🌳hat 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 c🎶ool, slows down, and the last two episodes are the big battle," Trachtenberg continued. "I can tell you, an🉐d pointing to other seasons, there is rock and roll throughout the entire season."
In November 2023, the writers' room , 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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Stranger Things season ♒4, Volume 2 ending, there are also plenty of theories floating around about what could happen. We suspect that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:time t🅺ravel might factor in a big way, seeing as the Upside Down was revealed to be stuck in November 1983. One theory even suggests 澳洲幸运🉐5开奖号码历史查询:we're heading to 1989 in a mini-time jump. Some viewers have been speculating if 澳🅰洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Eddie Munson could return as a new villain. Other theories say 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Max could꧑ be the key to Vecna's plan, Dungeons & Dragons may predict who the ne൲xt big bad w🌜ill 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 sh💙ow 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."
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 ꦓto finally reveal the alternate reality's secrets once and for all.
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, w♍ho plays Vecna/Henry Creel/One, is also ba🧸ck too 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 . "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 ꦰme. 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 b𝕴e 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 brotܫher 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 . "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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: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 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:who dies in Stranger Things season 4༺, Volume 2). Shawn Levy told : "A lot of people can't even handle𒈔 the tho🔥ught of a season 5 without some excuse for Eddie presence. [But it's] highly unlikely, highly unlikely. But we hear you, world, we know. You're obsessed with Eddie – so are we."
Another character not returning is Argyle. Eduardo Franco, who plays Jonathan Byers' pizza-delivering stoner buddy in the show, has confirmed♔ he never go๊t a call about reprising the role in season 5.
For more on what to watch, check out our guides to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Netflix movies and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best sci-fi movies on Netflix.
I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been publ🌄ished by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film maga⛦zine.
- 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Fay WatsonDeputy Entertainment Editor
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