Before Bridgerton joined the club, there was only one title to appear more than once in Netflix‘s top-10 list of the most popular English language series: Stranger Things. Season 4 of the the Duffer Brothers’ sci-fi/horror show is in second place, behind only Wednesday, while season 3 is #9. But with all due respect to Penelope Featherington, and Jenna Ortega, and the creepy doll on Squid Game, Stranger Things is Netflix’s signature show. So, as you’re well aware, anticipation is high for season 5 — which is also the final season.
Here’s everything we know about Stranger Things season 5, including the plot, cast, and premiere date.
Plot
Stranger Things season 5 begins with the sound of “COLD WIND.” If that doesn’t get you excited, maybe this will? The final season will be “heartbreaking,” “bonkers,” and “completely insane.” It’s eight episodes long, which doesn’t sound like a lot considering how many mysteries still need to be solved, but some — if not all — of the episodes will be movie length.
“We’re making basically eight movies,” Maya Hawke, who plays Robin (and Anxiety in Inside Out 2), said on the Podcrushed podcast. “Season 4 and season 5 are very connected. Season 4 had a part I and part II because they separated them, so the last two episodes came out at a different time, which is unusual for streaming. But this is its own season. It is a continuation, but it’s the finale. And it has been a long time since last season.” (Note: she said “eight movies” instead of “an eight-hour long movie,” a small but important distinction, because an eight-hour movie sounds terrible.)
Unlike in season 4, where the characters were spread across the globe, season 5 will be more “isolated,” according to Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler). “Not being around everyone all the time was definitely a bummer about filming 4, but 5 is the opposite,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re all together all the time, and a bunch of us live around the corner and across the street from each other in real life. So the cast is really seeing each other a lot, and we’re in a lot of the same scenes, which has been really great.”
And yes, at long last, there will (probably) be deaths. And maybe time jumps.
Cast
Most of the familiar faces will be black, albeit three years older than the last time we saw them. The confirmed season 5 cast includes “wifey” Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), feet fan David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), and Amybeth McNulty (Vickie).
Newcomers include The Terminator legend Linda Hamilton. “I don’t know how to be a fangirl and an actress at the same time,” she said about appearing on the show. “I’m gonna work on that.” As for Joseph Quinn, who played Eddie Munson in season 4, the A Quiet Place: Day One and Gladiator II star teased that “chances are high” he’ll spend more time with his former co-workers. Maybe the Quiet Place cat can make a cameo? And/or be the one to kill Vecna.
THIS IS A CODE RED
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) January 8, 2024
Release Date
Stranger Things returns for its fifth and final season in 2025. They’re halfway through filming!
Trailer
Netflix hasn’t released a trailer, or even a teaser, for season 5 yet. So why not hop into a proverbial DeLorean (1980s reference!) and re-watch the season 1 trailer, which is somehow eight years old. One of the highest-rated comments: “Then this series turned out to be the best Netflix series ever.”