Stranger Things season 5: everything we know so far about the hit Netflix show’s final entry (release date, trailer, cast, plot, and more)

Stranger Things season 5 is still four months away (at the time of this article’s latest update) from being released.

Despite having to wait so long for the incredibly popular Netflix show’s final entry, though, we’ve finally been given a trailer to pore over as we count down the weeks to its November 26/27 release on the world’s best streaming service. You’ll need to read this guide’s trailer section to learn more about it, though.

There’s plenty more to read about below, too. Indeed, from Stranger Things‘ fifth and final season’s trio of release dates and confirmed cast, to plot details and the franchise’s future, our expert (i.e. me) has combed the web to bring you the biggest and latest news about one of the best Netflix shows‘ final hurrah. Full spoilers follow for Stranger Things season 4. Possible spoilers for season 5 are on the way, too.

Stranger Things season 5 release date

Stranger Things season 5’s release dates were revealed at Netflix Tudum 2025. It’ll launch in three parts, too, with volume 1 (episodes 1 through 4) out on November 26 in the US, and November 27 in the UK and Australia. You can see when the volumes 2 and 3 will arrive in the above X/Twitter post.

Previously, Netflix only confirmed Stranger Things 5 would debut sometime in 2025. That came as a relief as we were worried that season 5 wouldn’t arrive until 2026. That was in spite of principal photography wrapping on Stranger Things 5 in December 2024, too.

Stranger Things season 5 trailer

At long last, Stranger Things season 5’s first official trailer was released on July 16. Netflix confirmed Stranger Things 5‘s teaser launch date one day earlier, so we knew it’d arrive ahead of time.

For more in-depth analysis and updates on the teaser, which you can view above, read my Stranger Things season 5 trailer launch blog.

Missed the first round of season 5 footage, which debuted at Netflix Tudum 2025 as part of a Stranger Things legacy teaser? Check it out below:

Ahead of that teaser’s debut, Netflix released a behind-the-scenes look at season 5 in mid-2024.

The video represented our first proper look at Stranger Things season 5 – one that revealed new characters, fan-favorite team-ups, and a possible time jump, but didn’t feature any actual footage.

Stranger Things season 5 cast: confirmed and rumored

Major spoilers follow for Stranger Things season 4.

Here’s the confirmed cast for Stranger Things season 5 as of July 2025:

• Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
• David Harbour as Jim Hopper
• Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven
• Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
• Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
• Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
• Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
• Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield
• Natalie Dyer as Nancy Wheeler
• Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
• Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
• Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley
• Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair
• Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman
• Jamie Campbell-Bower as Vecna
• Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler
• Amybeth McNulty as Vickie
• Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler
• Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow
• Alex Breaux as Lieutenant Akers
• Linda Hamilton as Doctor Kay

Established cast members notwithstanding, the biggest news is that Terminator star Linda Hamilton has joined the Stranger Things 5 ranks. She’ll play a gun-toting scientist called Doctor Kay.

She isn’t the only cast addition. July 2024’s behind-the-scenes teaser confirmed by Fisher (Evil Dead Rise), Breaux (Waco: The Aftermath), and up-and-comer Connelly are also part of proceedings. Fisher will play Holly Wheeler, aka Mike and Nancy’s younger sibling, while Connelly and Breaux have been cast as Derek and Lieutenant Akers.

I suspect supporting characters from past seasons migh show up, too. Ted Wheeler (Joe Chrest), Lieutenant Colonel Jack Sullivan (Sherman Augustus), and Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) should be back. Meanwhile, Doctor Sam Owens’ (Paul Reiser) fate is unknown after he was left handcuffed to a pipe in the subterranean Nina Project in season 4. However, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t feature.

Lastly, Eduardo Franco has confirmed (per IGN) he didn’t receive the call to reprise his role as fan-favorite season 4 character Argyle. Joseph Quinn’s Eddie Munson won’t be back, either, following his death in last season’s finale. Other season 4 characters in Dmitri Antonov (Tom Wlaschiha) and Yuri Ismaylov (Nikola Duricko) are unlikely to appear as well.

Stranger Things season 5 story synopsis and speculation

Full spoilers follow for Stranger Things season 4. Potential season 5 spoilers are also discussed.

Here’s Stranger Things season 5’s story synopsis: “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.”

Given this season marks the end of one of Netflix’s biggest TV Originals, it’s set to go out with a bang.

For one, Stranger Things 5 will test our runtime limits, with Maya Hawke revealing that “basically, eight movies” have been filmed. Season 5’s 12-month shoot yielded 650-plus hours of footage, too, which has been whittled down for its “blockbuster movie” episodes, according to co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer.

Furthermore, we know what this season’s episode titles are. The season 5 premiere title, aka ‘The Crawl’, was unveiled in mid-2022 – here are four big theories on what Stranger Things 5’s first episode title could mean – while the others were unveiled last November.

• Episode 1 – The Crawl
• Episode 2 – The Vanishing Of [Redacted]
• Episode 3 – The Turnbow Trap
• Episode 4 – Sorcerer
• Episode 5 – Shock Jock
• Episode 6 – Escape From Camazotz
• Episode 7 – The Bridge
• Episode 8 – The Rightside Up

Interestingly, the Duffers confirmed they rewrote parts of season 5 (per Netflix Tudum) based on fan feedback, which means the show will end in a different way than they originally intended. Thankfully, nothing about season 5’s concluding chapter has appeared online, even after Netflix reportedly suffered a major Stranger Things 5 leak in February. For now, then, its biggest secrets are still being kept under wraps.

Before the end credits roll for the final time, our heroes must join forces to try to stop Vecna – the show’s primary antagonist – for good.

“Our characters are going after Vecna from minute one,” Ross Duffer told Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 unlocked episode in July 2022. “We have a lot to do, in terms of a few more revelations, and also we need to make sure we give our characters time to make these final arcs.”

So, what happened in the season 4 finale? Vecna was severely injured by Nancy, Steve, and Robin at Creel House but, when they go looking for Vecna’s body, it’s gone. The series’ main villain appears to crawled away to recover from his wounds, then.

He was technically victorious in season 4, though. Max, his final victim, died for a whole minute after he attacked her, thereby causing four rifts to the Upside Down to open in the center of Hawkins. Based on season 5’s first trailer, the two realities will clash as Vecna tries to finish what he started – i.e. destroying everything that our heroes hold dear.

To put a stop to his world-ending plan, the show’s main characters are already assembled in Hawkins so, while they’ll break into smaller groups to cover as much ground as possible, they’re still effectively working together. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Matt Duffer said that was an intentional creative decision, adding: “We want to go back to a lot things we did in season 1 and a lot of the original groupings and pairings that we had.”

But back to Max. She’s in a medically-induced coma following her near-fatal encounter with Vecna in the Stranger Things season 4 finale. When Eleven went searching for Max in the Void, though, she couldn’t find her, so it’s unclear if Max will ever wake up.

Before filming on season 5 began, Sink said she was in the dark about Max’s fate, but you can read our thoughts on how Max’s story could go one of two ways in Stranger Things season 5. However, in images posted from the season 5 set (see the below Instagram post’s third photograph), Ross Duffer teased Lucas will try to coax Max out of her unconscious state using music – and, in particular, her love to Kate Bush.

Elsewhere Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, dropped a big hint to Vogue about his season 5 character arc, saying: “There’s a lot in store for Will. It ties back to where it begins, full circle. I’m excited for fans to see where we wrap his character. I think they’ll be really pleased, but also shocked.”

Schnapp also told US magazine that Will is the “center point” of Stranger Things 5, before revealing (via Forbes) that the whole show “ends with Will”. Based on the X/Twitter post below, it could begin with a flashback showing us a de-aged Will or, as seen in a video from Schnapp (post on Ross Duffer’s X/Twitter account) showed, a present day Will revisiting Castle Byers, aka his self-erected childhood hideout.

Ross Duffer corroborated Schnapp’s comments in conversation with Variety, adding: “Will really takes center stage again. 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.”

As for potential character deaths, Stranger Things season 5 sounds like it’ll be the deadliest yet, which implies some main characters will perish. Place your bets on who’ll make it out live now.

Teasing what else fans can expect, Matt Duffer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that the show’s final few episodes will be like The Lord of the Rings in its design.

“It [the season 5 finale] is going to be Return of the King-ish with eight endings,” he said. “If you just watch Return of the King, it feels like too many endings. [But] if you watch all of them back-to-back, which I’ve done multiple times, it’s exactly right. If it were any shorter, it would feel cheap and wrong.”

As for other subplots that need resolving, we should find out why the Upside Down is seemingly stuck in 1984. We still don’t have all the answers – outside of what’s revealed in prequel stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow – about this realm. We’re also in the dark about why it’s spookier and more dingy than the realm Henry Creel first traveled to, or what The Mind Flayer is. Ross Duffer (per Stranger Things season 4 volume 2’s unlocked episode) claims those queries will be answered.

There’s also the loose end concerning number eight – aka Kali Prasad. We haven’t seen Kali since season 2 and, unlike every other test subject under Doctor Brenner’s supervision (who had telekinetic abilities), she had different powers. Why was she the odd one out? And will we see her again?

It’s possible Stranger Things season 5 won’t answer everything. After all, the Duffers have retconned some early season plot points in later instalments (via Variety). Maybe Kali’s story is just one of those lingering mysteries we’ll never get closure on.

And what of the show’s last-ever episode? We have no idea how it’ll end, but Matarazzo told NME that fans can prepare to see a “satisfying” and “cathartic” final chapter, while Wolfhard told People.com that he was “satisfied… confused… and sad” about it. David Harbour also told THR that the series’ final episode is “the best episode they [the Duffers] have done” before teasing how tear-jerking it is. Have a box of tissues at the ready, everyone!

The future of Stranger Things

Season 5 of Stranger Things is the end of the mainline show, but there are other projects in the works at Upside Down Pictures, aka the Duffers’ production company.

The first of those – a stage play that’s titled Stranger Things: The First Shadow – is set in 1959 and tells the tale of the Creel Family’s arrival in Hawkins. It also shows us Jim Hopper, Henry Creel, and other notable characters in their teens. It’s currently playing on Broadway, but it’s a prequel that might mean Stranger Things season 5 hits the big Marvel and Star Wars problem. Based on a huge plot point it’ll contain, The First Shadow‘s big lore reveal will need addressing in season 5 for anyone who doesn’t get the chance to watch it.

As for other projects, an animated spin-off called Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is due out on Netflix sometime in 2026. Attendees were treated to some first-look images at the series, which takes place between seasons 2 and 3, and will feature a new supernatural threat for Eleven and company to deal with. Everything else is being kept under wraps.

For more Netflix-based coverage, read our guides on Bridgerton season 4, One Piece season 2, Wednesday season 2, and Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2.