The Upside Down and Hawkins have long been the obsession of Netflix subscribers, but all good things must come to an end. And they will with the Stranger Things season 5 release date.
Stranger Things is one of the best Netflix series in our minds. Its high stakes and increasing scale have made it unmissable. But there’s plenty to address before ‘The Party’ walks off into the sunset, so here’s everything we know — including who in the Stranger Things cast could be rolling death saves.
Stranger Things season 5 release date speculation
It’s likely we won’t return to Hawkins until mid-2025. The Duffer Brothers confirmed season 5 was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
“Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this [2023 Writers Strike]. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out.”
The Writers Strike has ended but the WGA wasn’t the only union striking, the Actors Strike added to the delay.
Prior to this, production on the final season of one of the best sci-fi series was set to begin in June 2023. With all this in mind, a release date in the first half of 2025 now seems much more likely.
A two-part release strategy worked well for season 4, so we think that could happen again with season 5, perhaps with the last one or two episodes staggered so the end of the show can be experienced by everyone at the same time. That made season 4 an event, and we loved it.
Who’s in the Stranger Things season 5 cast?
The main Stranger Things cast will all return for season 5, including David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Millie Bobby Brown, and Finn Wolfhard.
It was announced on Saturday, June 27, 2023, that Terminator’s Linda Hamilton would be joining the Stranger Things season 5 cast. Great news for 80s movie fans! Some faces who won’t be returning are Matthew Modine as Dr. Brenner (aka Papa), Joseph Quinn as fan favorite Eddie Munson, and Mason Dye as Jason Carver.
On the creative front, there’s some exciting information there, too: Dan Trachtenberg, who directed Prey and 10 Cloverfield Lane, has signed on to direct at least one episode of the final season. With his sci-fi horror expertise, that’s excellent news.
The Stranger Things season 5 cast list:
- Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven
- Finn Wolfhard as Mike
- Noah Schnapp as Will
- Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas
- Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin
- Sadie Sink as Max
- Priah Ferguson as Erica
- David Harbour as Jim Hopper
- Winona Ryder as Joyce
- Joe Keery as Steve
- Natalia Dyer as Nancy
- Maya Hawke as Robin
- Charlie Heaton as Jonathan
- Eduardo Franco as Argyle
- Bret Gelman as Murray
- Tom Wlaschiha as Dmitri
- Jamie Campbell-Bower as Vecna
- Linda Hamilton as TBC
What will Stranger Things season 5 be about?
Stranger Things 5’s plot follows the end of season 4, with Hawkins partially destroyed by Vecna’s gates. The characters will have to try to kill Vecna for good to save the world.
Stranger Things season 5 is confirmed to be the end of the story. And based on a tweet posted by the Stranger Things writers’ account, it’s set to be an explosive ending: “Season 5 is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids.”
In the season 4 finale, the gang couldn’t stop Vecna from unleashing chaos. We saw Hawkins covered in decay, fire, and ash – and Will warns that Vecna still needs to be taken down.
We may not see a heroic retaliation to the situation straight away. The Duffer Brothers have said that season 5 would probably have a time jump thanks to the age of the cast, who, despite playing young teenagers, are nearing or in their 20s in real life.
Season 5 also should answer all our lingering inter-dimensional questions. Additionally, everyone and their mother are worried about Max, who was left severely injured after the Vecna confrontation.
We may all be left a sobbing mess. In an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, star David Harbour confirmed that he knows how things will conclude. “I know where we net out and it’s very, very moving.”
He also said at Motor City Comic Con in Michigan, “The beauty of it is there’s a real ending — things will end in a very real way.” Considering the ways popular IPs refuse to tie things up with a bow these days, that’s welcome news.
Is there a Stranger Things season 5 trailer?
A Stranger Things season 5 trailer isn’t likely to be released until early 2025, given that filming hasn’t started yet.
In the meantime, if you need a bit of relief from the dark, dark times of season 4, you can have a laugh with the bloopers below:
Where can I watch Stranger Things season 5?
You’ll be able to catch Stranger Things season 5 on Netflix.
We’ve got everything you need to know about the current Netflix price so you can get started with the best TV series on the service. But just because it’s a streaming darling doesn’t mean it won’t be big.
In fact, Producer Shawn Levy told Total Film that it’s a “major, cinematic storytelling that happens to be called a TV series. Stranger Things 5 is as big as any of the biggest movies that we see.”
How many episodes will Stranger Things season 5 have?
Stranger Things season 5 will have 8 episodes, as confirmed by the writers.
The Stranger Things writing team posted a tease on X, showing an empty whiteboard with their layout for the season’s 8 episodes.
Fans were quick to note the thick double line between episodes 4 and 5. Could this potentially be where the time jump comes in? Or perhaps it indicates a two-part release strategy. We’ll just have to wait to find out.
Will there be a Stranger Things season 6?
The Duffer Brothers confirmed that season 5 would be the end of Stranger Things, so season 6 isnt happening.
“At the time, we predicted the story would last four or five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll soon see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last,” they wrote in an open letter.
This means that, officially, there will be no Stranger Things season 6. That said… there will be a spin-off. This was confirmed by Variety in 2022 when the Duffer Brothers said that the spin-off would be “1000% different” from the original show, and wouldn’t focus on any of its characters.
That’s everything we know about Stranger Things season 5! For more gnarly adventures, here are our lists of the best Netflix movies and best time travel movies. Or, if you want to hear more from troubled teens, check out everything we know about Wednesday season 2.
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