Stranger Things season 5: Release date, plot, cast, spoilers and trailers

1 June 2025, 13:59

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By Katie Louise Smith

When does Stranger Things 5 come out? The final season of the Netflix show will be released in three parts – on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Stranger Things fans, it's official – Stranger Things 5 has finally been confirmed as the final season of the Netflix series.

Another now, after years of waiting, we finally have a release date. Stranger Things 5 will be released in three parts. Part 1 will drop at on November 26th 2025. Part 2 will drop at Christmas. And part 3 - the finale episode - will drop on New Year's Eve.

In a statement alongside the release date for Stranger Things 4, the show’s creators, the Duffer brothers, confirmed the end of the show, saying: "Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll soon see for yourselves — we are now hurtling towards our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last."

The latest news about Stranger Things 5?

• Stranger Things 5 will be released in 3 parts, starting on November 26th.
• Season 5 will take place in "the fall of 1987".
• The final episode will be titled 'The Rightside Up'.
• Season 5's storyline will also take place entirely in Hawkins, with Will Byers as the main focus.

Here's everything we know about Stranger Things season 5 so far - scroll down for the synopsis, release date information, what year it takes place, new characters and more...

When does Stranger Things 5 come out on Netflix?

When will Stranger Things 5 be released?

Stranger Things 5 will premiere on Netflix on November 26th, but fans will have to wait longer to for the full season.

The final season will be released in three parts, with the series finale airing on its own. The official release schedule for Stranger Things 5 is as follows:

• Volume 1 (Episodes 1-4): Wednesday November 26th (5pm PT/8pm ET/1pm GMT on Nov 27th)
• Volume 2 (Episodes 5-7): Wednesday December 25th (5pm PT/8pm ET/1pm GMT on Dec 26th)
• The Finale (Episode 8): Wednesday December 31st (5pm PT/8pm ET/1pm GMT on Jan 1st)

How many episodes will Stranger Things 5 have?

The Duffer Brothers have now confirmed that Stranger Things 5 will have 8 episodes, echoing seasons 1 and 3. Seasons 2 and 4 had nine episodes.

The episode runtimes have not been confirmed but they will be substantial. The Duffers have said the final episode of season 5 will last "at least two hours," but not as long as the final episode of season 4.

In another interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Duffer teased that the finale "will be pretty massive."

Academy Award-nominated director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) has also come out of retirement to direct two episodes of season 5.

What are the Stranger Things 5 episode titles?

The Stranger Things 5 episode titles have now been revealed. Episode 1 was previously confirmed way back in November 2022 with the remaining seven being announced on Stranger Things Day in 2024.

The final episode of Stranger Things will be titled 'The Rightside Up'.

Here's the full list of Stranger Things 5 episode titles:

1. The Crawl
2. The Vanishing of [REDACTED] - The full episode title has not yet been revealed, but is believed to be Holly Wheeler, Nancy and Mike's sister.
3. The Turnbow Trap
4. Sorcerer
5. Shock Jock
6. Escape from Camazotz
7. The Bridge
8. The Rightside Up

• Read more: Stranger Things 5 episode titles explained – what is Camazotz?

Stranger Things 5 episode titles revealed

The first scene of Stranger Things 5 episode 1 has also been teased. On Stranger Things Day 2023 (Nov 6th), the Stranger Things writers dropped a glimpse at the script for the season opener.

The first scene features darkness, the sound of cold wind and groaning trees, and a child's voice singing a familiar song.

Immediately, fans began theorising that the scene would be a flashback of Will Byers on the day he was taken into the Upside Down. The "familiar song" therefore would be The Clash's 'Should I Stay or Should I Go'.

Since the big season 4 reveal that music can help you escape Vecna, fans have theorised that one of the reasons why Will remained safe in the Upside Down is because he was continuously singing it.

Stranger Things 5 synopsis

The official synopsis for Stranger Things 5 reads: “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown.

"Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. 

"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.”

Will there be a time jump in Stranger Things 5?

As any fan of Stranger Things will know, every season starts with a little bit of a time jump. The timeline jumped from November/December 1983 in season 1 to October 1984 in season 2, and then to July 1985 in season 3. Season 4 takes place in March 1986, eight months after the Battle of Starcourt.

It's now been confirmed that Stranger Things 5 will take place in "the fall of 1987", which means around 18 months will have passed. That's Stranger Things' biggest time jump yet.

Speaking to TVLine, the Duffer brothers said a lengthy gap is almost unavoidable because of the ages of the younger actors: "I’m sure we will do a time jump. Ideally, we’d have shot [Seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that."

During David Harbour's appearance at the Middle East Film & Comic Con, he hinted that quite a bit of time may have passed when we return because Hopper's physique will be different to the last time we saw him: "Now he's back in town, and he's back in America, where they have cheeseburgers. So he will have been well fed for season 5."

Photos posted on Ross Duffer's Instagram account show Hopper with long hair and a long beard, a stark contrast to his shaved head and stubble from season 4. Similarly, new glimpses at Eleven in the season 5 teaser show her sporting shoulder length hair. Holly Wheeler, who will now be played by Nell Fisher, has also been aged up considerably.

What year will Stranger Things 5 be set in?

Each season of Stranger Things takes place one year later, and it's now been confirmed that season 5 will be set towards the end of 1987.

Season 4 took place in March 1986 with the Upside Down spreading fast in Hawkins, and the threat of Vecna becoming very very immediate.

With the season taking place in late 1987, it will have been around 18 months since the Upside Down broke through into Hawkins and Max fell into a coma after her encounter with Vecna.

If the final episodes of the show ends up going beyond March 1988 then it could coincide with the release of Beetlejuice which, of course, stars the real life superstar Winona Ryder. And there's no way a show that references pop culture as much as Stranger Things could ignore that...

Why was Stranger Things 5 delayed?

The release of Stranger Things 5 was delayed – but it was for a good reason.

In August 2022, the Duffer brothers confirmed that they had started writing season 5. Other cast members previously hinted that filming would begin around mid-2023, and would take one year to complete. However, due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, these dates ended up being pushed back.

In May 2023, the Writers Guild of America went on strike in order to secure fairer pay for its members, particularly in the streaming era. The Duffer brothers confirmed that production would not begin until a fair deal between the writers and studios, networks and streaming services has been reached.

Then, in July 2023, SAG-AFTRA also joined the WGA on strike after negotiations fell through. Actors are sought to secure better and fairer pay, improved working conditions and guarantees from studios, production companies and streaming services when it comes to protecting their likeness amid the use of A.I. technology.

Based on comments from the cast, it appears as though production ended up being delayed around 6 months.

When did Stranger Things 5 start and finish filming?

On January 8th 2024, the official Stranger Things Instagram account confirmed that production had officially started. The table read for the first 6 episodes happened in December 2023.

In July 2024, the first sneak peek of Stranger Things 5 was released to celebrate the half-way point of filming.

In October 2024, David Harbour confirmed that the cast had done their very last table read for the series finale.

Filming officially wrapped on December 20th 2024.

Prior to the writer and actor strikes, Noah Schnapp previously shared that he was meant to start filming in May 2023. At a 2023 film & comic con event, David also shared that he was originally set to begin filming in June 2023.

• Read more: Stranger Things creators reveal their plans for season 5 made Netflix execs cry

Netflix releases first look at Stranger Things 5

Will Stranger Things 5 be the final season?

Yes. Stranger Things season 5 will be the final season of the show. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ross Duffer previously said: "Season four won’t be the end. We know what the end is, and we know when it is. [The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story."

But it won't be the end of the Stranger Things universe... In statement discussing the future of the franchise and the season 4 release date, the Duffer brothers said: "There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes."

In an interview with Collider, David Harbour said that season 4 lays the groundwork for the ending of the show: "We're introducing new stuff, but we're also tightening and wrapping up in a certain direction. To make it have a clear, clean, specific, and definite ending at some point, which I can't really talk about.”

Producer Shawn Levy also told Collider in a separate interview that he and the Duffer brothers have the end in sight: "There is a plan and that too will be shared not quite as soon as a sense of when season four is coming out, but soon enough."

He continued: "I can say this. No one’s making it up as we go along and there is an endgame, if you will."

• Read more: Stranger Things creators say they are "not consulting" fans on how season 5 will end

Watch the trailer for Stranger Things 4 Volume 2

What will happen in Stranger Things 5?

In addition to the synopsis above, plenty more details have been shared about Stranger Things 5's plot.

Viewers have now learned about Vecna, his history, his origins and his connection to Eleven. And now that we know he's still looming over Hawkins thanks to Will's senses, season 5 will obviously continue that storyline. Oh, and there's the small matter of the Upside Down now breaking through into Hawkins itself.

In a 2022 interview with Variety, the Duffer brothers teased that the remaining mysteries of the Upside Down will be the main focus of season 5 – including the significance of the Upside Down being stuck on the date that was Will was taken back in 1983.

"We don't actually resolve that this season but it plays that moment where they realise it's frozen in time," they said. "It's a huge part of season 5 and so, we just wanted to just put it out there, and get people talking about it and thinking about it."

Season 5 will also bring Will back into primary focus. "Will really takes center stage again in 5," Ross Duffer told Variety in August 2023. "This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that’s being protected. So part of his journey, it’s not just sexuality — it’s Will coming into his own as a young man."

At the end of season 4, Hawkins has been torn into pieces by Vecna and it's now home to a huge gateway between the real world and the Upside Down. The Upside Down now appears to be spreading throughout Hawkins, as we see in the final scene where Eleven walks out into the field by Hopper's cabin to find the grass and flowers dying.

Teasing season 5 on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Matt and Ross revealed that there will be none of the usual character set up we've grown accustomed to over the past seasons: "It’s gonna be moving – I don’t know if it’s gonna be going 100 miles an hour at the start of 5 – but it’s gonna be moving pretty fast. Characters are already going to be in action, they’re already gonna have a goal and a drive."

However, seeing as it is the last season, the Duffers have promised that the show will take time to wrap up character arcs: "A lot of these characters have been growing since season one so it’s a balancing act between giving them time to complete their character arcs and also tying up loose ends and doing our final reveals.”

Natalia Dyer “feels bad” that Nancy left Steve for Jonathan in Stranger Things season 1

Season 5 will also take place in Hawkins, echoing the vibe of season 1 but on a much bigger scale. The Stranger Things writers have teased "season 5 is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids."

"It’s going to feel a lot larger in scale than season 1, but we wanna go back to a lot of things we did in season 1, a lot of original groupings and parings - there’s something nice about coming full scale," the brothers teased. "It’s gonna feel bigger than season 1, much more massive in terms of the stakes and the scale, but we wanna revisit a lot of things we did in season 1."

Adding to that, Matt and Ross also revealed that season 5 will be "a culmination of all of the seasons, so it’s sort of got a little bit from each, whereas before each season was so distinct — three, this is our big summer blockbuster season with our big monster; four was the psychological horror."

Ross continued: "I think that what we’re trying to do is go back to the beginning a little bit in the tone of [season] one, but scale-wise it’s more in line with what [season] four is."

"Hopefully it’s got a little bit of everything.”

Elsewhere, season 5 will likely delve into what actually happened to Max. Max was killed by Vecna in the season 4 finale, but she came back to life and is now in a coma (albeit, confirmed braindead and blind). Eleven appeared to have revived her using her happy memories, but the season ended before that was explained.

The Duffer brothers have now revealed that the fact that Max is in a coma will be "incredibly relevant" to season 5's storyline.

"Season 5, and the fact that she's in the coma...I can't really get into the details but it is important that she is," Matt Duffer teased. "And that is going to have a major effect on 5. It's not a 'cheat', it's incredibly relevant to 5."

• Read more: Stranger Things 4 originally planned to kill off Max permanently

Stranger Things 5 ending: What have the Duffer brothers and the cast said?

In November 2022, the Duffer brothers teased that the show's ending will incorporate some old ideas they pitched for season 2 that never ended up making it into that particular season. "For Season 5, we're pulling from a lot of those big Season 2 ideas," they revealed. "A lot of our big ending stuff has pulled from stuff that we thought was going to be in Season 2."

While they didn’t reveal exactly what they were pulling from their leftover ideas, they did tease that they were revisiting and reworking a lot of the stuff that they originally pitched to Netflix. They also added that their original ending has now changed, and what happens in the final season is different to what they originally envisioned.

"Even the ending is a little bit different [now]," added Matt. "A lot of the big ideas are the same, but the stuff that happens within, it's very different."

Noah Schnapp also teased that the ending will come full circle for Will. Speaking to Forbes, Noah said: "I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to. The way they closed the show is just perfect — the story started with Will, and it’ll end with Will.”

Additionally, Finn Wolfhard has teased that fans can hopefully expect happy endings for their favourite characters. "What’s going to be so awesome about season five is that the Duffers are sort of trying to thread this needle of trying to get every character to have their perfect ending," he told IndieWire. "So I’m excited to see what ends up happening.”

Speaking to Josh Horowitz during Happy Sad Confused podcast’s 10-year anniversary celebration, David Harbour teased that “they land the plane, and [the final epsiode] is the best episode they’ve ever done." He also revealed that the last 20 minutes of the final table read left the cast "uncontrollably crying".

Stranger Things 5 cast: Who will return?

Let's start with the good news, shall we? The returning cast members for Stranger Things 5 include: Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Noah Schnapp (Will), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Priya Ferguson (Erica), Joe Keery (Steve), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan) and Maya Hawke (Robin).

Sadie Sink will also return but seeing as Max is in a coma, we'll have to wait and see what happens with her storyline.

And of course, Winona Ryder and David Harbour will be back in business as Mom and Dad, a.k.a. Joyce and Hopper, who are now (finally!) together as a couple.

Brett Gelman (Murray) and Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler) will return, as well as Amybeth McNulty's Vicky. Mike nad Nancy's sister Holly Wheeler will now be played by Nell Fisher.

And while his whereabouts are currently unknown, it's possible that we could see Paul Reiser's Dr. Owens again. Seeing as he didn't die and is now presumably in hiding in the U.S. with Murray, we could also see the return of Tom Wlaschiha's Dmitri/Enzo. (It's unclear if Nikola Đuričko's Yuri will be back.)

Basically, anyone who didn't die could return in season 5. And to be honest, anyone who is dead could also pop back up in flashbacks or Vecna's visions.

Stranger Things 5 new characters: Will there be any new characters joining the cast?

The Duffer brothers have explained that they were trying not to add anymore new characters to season 5. Explaining why to IndieWire, they said: "We’re doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5. We’re trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters, I guess."

That said, in June 2023, it was announced that Linda Hamilton (best known for playing Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise) would be joining the cast. She will be playing Dr. Kay.

Several other new characters have also been added for the final season. Per TUDUM, the new cast and characters are: Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow) and Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers).

In the teaser for Stranger Things 5, there's a couple of new faces that have not yet been included on the cast list.

• Read more: Finn Wolfhard addresses theory that Mike will die in Stranger Things 5

Will Eddie Munson be in Stranger Things 5?

Despite his definitive death in season 4, fans are desperate to see Joseph Quinn's Eddie Munson somehow return in season 5.

As previously mentioned, Eddie could realistically pop up in flashbacks using footage from season 4. But with Vecna still on the loose, there's also a possibility that Dustin's traumatic visions could conjure up an undead version of Eddie, much like Billy in Max's vision. But that's all speculation at the moment, of course.

As for the elaborate theory about Eddie returning as Kas the Bloody Handed? For now, it remains a theory. A good one, but still just a theory.

For now, there is no confirmation that Joseph will return in season 5.

Will Vecna be in Stranger Things 5?

Yes, Jamie Campbell Bower will be back in business as the Upside Down villain. At the end of season 5, Nancy shot a burning Vecna out of the window at the Creel House and viewers saw him lying on the ground. We later found out that he had disappeared.

In an interview with NME, Jamie teased his return: “He’s pissed, he’s properly vexed. I don’t think he’s slunk off licking his wounds in misery. He’s rebuilding, and he’s out for blood. It’s like, you’ve really fucking pushed the buttons now, that classic Jason Voorhees thing – you’ve made a big mistake."

Although he doesn’t know what season 5 has in store yet, Jamie also teased: "I think Vecna and Will have a connection that’s yet to be explored."

Read more about Stranger Things 5 here:

• Maya Hawke wants Robin to die in Stranger Things 5
• Addison Rae responds to rumours she landed a part in Stranger Things 5
• Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp confirms Will Byers is gay and in love with Mike
• Stranger Things fans are convinced Eddie’s tattoos foreshadow his season 5 return
• Stranger Things 5 theory explains how 008 will help Eleven defeat Vecna
• Stranger Things 4 theory suggests Eleven's real dad is 001/Henry Creel

The Cast of Stranger Things rap a recap of the previous seasons

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