Everything To Know About Stranger Things Season 5

Following the dramatic conclusion of Stranger Things Season 4 in 2022, fans were left with an open-ended finale that spells impending doom for the people of Hawkins. The curtain separating the Upside Down and Hawkins has fallen, and the fate of Max hangs in the balance. But viewers can rest easy knowing that the series will resolve its remaining mysteries in the near future.

On Sept. 12, the first teaser for Season 5, captioned “excuse our mess,” was unveiled. In the 10-second clip, a flickering Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor sign is nestled within a pile of rubble as eerie music plays in the background. The first look at the new series has only intensified fan anticipation for Season 5, and you can find everything we know about Stranger Things’ final season so far, below.

Stranger Things Season 5 Plot

As mentioned, fans can expect Season 5 to pick up on any loose ends left open at the end of Season 4. Vecna is still alive and somehow has a connection to Will, which will likely come in handy when the villain decides to reemerge and exact his revenge. Hawkins, itself, is in disarray, with the small town now merging with the Upside Down, and Max is left in a coma after Eleven may or may not have saved her from dying. If any of these lingering mysteries are solved, that remains unclear at this point.

In March 2023, the Stranger Things writers offered some indication of what fans can expect from the new series, teasing on Twitter: “Season 5 is like if Season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids.” Meanwhile, some members of the Stranger Things cast have also teased minor details of the forthcoming final chapter. Speaking to Forbes in December 2022, Noah Schnapp said he is “very, very excited for what’s to come” for his character Will Byers. “I think they did a great job with Will’s character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to,” Schnapp told the outlet. “The way they closed the show is just perfect — the story started with Will, and it’ll end with Will.”

During a January 2022 appearance on Today, fellow cast member Sadie Sink (aka Max Mayfield) teased an “emotional” final season, confirming that her character will “be there.”

Per Digital Spy, series creators The Duffer Brothers have also previously confirmed they have big plans in store for the show’s upcoming and final season, which promises to pack an emotional punch. “We do have an outline for Season 5 and we pitched it to Netflix and they really responded well to it,” Matt Duffer said. “I mean, it was hard. It’s the end of the story. I saw executives crying who I’ve never seen cry before and it was wild.”

As Ross Duffer revealed, there will be “less ramp-up” in Season 5, and it’ll be “pedal to the metal from the opening scene.” Runtimes won’t “be as extreme,” Matt told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re trying to return to the simplicity of the structure in season 1, with bigger scale and scope,” he explained. “Except for the finale, which I’m expecting will be pretty massive.” If that’s the case, keep a box of tissues close when Season 5 drops on Netflix.

Stranger Things Season 5 Potential Premiere Date

Netflix has not revealed exactly when Stranger Things Season 5 will premiere, and considering the scope and ambition of Season 4, it seems like the Duffer Brothers need ample time for production. However on March 3, while at the Middle East Film & Comic Con in Abu Dhabi, David Harbour revealed that a date for filming has been put down in the diary. “We’re walking into Season 5. I’ve got a couple more months to train. We start shooting that in June, though, and that will be the final season,” he said.

So while filming is set to begin in June 2023, the long break between Seasons 3 and 4 also still makes predicting a Season 5 release date a little tricky. As diehard fans may remember, Season 1 debuted in July 2016, and Season 2 dropped in October 2017. Two years later, Stranger Things 3 premiered in July 2019, only for audiences to then wait a whopping three years for Stranger Things 4 in June 2022.

Complicating things now is the Writers Guild of America strike that began on May 2. The Duffer Brothers tweeted an update on May 6, announcing that production couldn’t go forward amid the strike. “Writing does not stop when filming begins,” they wrote in part. “While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work.”

Matt previously reassured fans that the wait for Season 5 would not be as long as between Seasons 3 and 4. Before the dates for production were finalized, he explained to TVLine that while the cameras weren’t rolling just yet, their final season plans were in place.

“I’m not sure we’re ready to say yet a start date for shooting. But a lot of it is pretty well mapped out,” he said. “We learn a lot every time we make a [season]. We’ve learned a lot just working with all of our new actors and the ones that we’ve worked with for a long time over this year [making Season 4], so I’m sure it’ll change a little bit from that outline.”

Matt added that they were taking their time to get things right. “The ending is the hard thing,” he said. “That’s obviously the stressful thing. We really want to stick the landing.”

According to Ross, the original plan was to shoot Season 4 and 5 back-to-back, but that wasn’t feasible. “I’m sure we will do a time jump,” he told TVLine. So, when the show does return in 2023 — or 2024 — you can expect a lot to have changed for Stranger Things’ characters.

As for the release schedule, Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series for the United States and Canada, told Variety that Season 5 will be released all at once. “For the fans of Stranger Things this is how they’ve been watching that show,” he said. “I think to change that on them would be disappointing.” Meanwhile, Harbour revealed to GQ that he believes Season 5 will “probably come out mid-2024, based on our track record.”

Stranger Things Season 5 Cast

The main cast is likely to return for Stranger Things’ final outing, which includes Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, and Joe Keery. Because Vecna isn’t quite dead yet, we can also expect Jamie Campbell Bower to return to play the show’s villainous mastermind.

The Duffer Brothers called Season 4 their “Game of Thrones season.” On the eve of the finale, fans emotionally prepared themselves to say goodbye to some of their favorites. The final episodes had us saying goodbye to Matthew Modine’s Dr. Martin Brenner and new fan-favorite Eddie Munsen, played by Joseph Quinn. But not everyone who dies in Stranger Things stays dead. Hopper came back after viewers were convinced the sheriff had met his demise. Stranger Things is a fantasy series, after all, and in this magical world, anything can happen.

This post will be updated as more Stranger Things Season 5 details become available.