Cue the ominous grandfather clock — it’s the beginning of the end for Stranger Things.
Season 4 of the Netflix original series left Hawkins in impending doom, with Vecna’s mysterious disappearance looming over and fan theories running rampant. There’s still so much ahead for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the gang. Luckily, the wait for answers may end sooner than expected as Stranger Things season 5 brings about an official finale to the supernatural drama.
While we wait for the show’s epic conclusion, here’s everything we know about Stranger Things season 5’s release date, cast, episodes, spoilers and more:
Did Stranger Things season 5 get delayed?
Yes. As of early May, the Netflix series has halted production amid the ongoing writers’ strike, People reported. The delay got even longer after SAG-AFTRA went on strike in mid-July, pausing the project once more.
For context, currently, in Hollywood, thousands of screenwriters under the Writer’s Guild Association (WGA) and actors in SAG-AFTRA are on a work stoppage in a bid to secure a fair contract, with many citing the boom of streaming residuals as a critical action item.
The Duffer brothers, themselves, took to the Stranger Things writers’ official Twitter account to confirm the news. “Writing does not stop when filming begins,” the tweet read on May 6. “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. Until then — over and out. #WGAstrong.”
When is Stranger Things season 5 coming out?
Hopper’s David Harbour originally shared that filming was set to begin in June 2023, per Collider, but we’re none the wiser about when the crew will return to work. The Duffer Brothers last told Variety that fans could expect a shorter wait time than the fourth installment.
Ross Duffer said to the outlet in May 2022: “Don’t hold us to it, but the gap should be quite a bit shorter this time, due to the fact that we already have an initial outline, and we can’t imagine there will be another six-month forced hiatus.”
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Is season 5 the last of Stranger Things?
As much as it hurts to say, friends don’t lie. The showrunners confirmed season 5 will be the last installment in a letter to Stranger Things fans: “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 continued: “It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll soon see for yourself — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.”
How many episodes are in Stranger Things season 5?
Buckle up — the final installment means tying up a lot of loose storylines, a thought that occurred to Ross while writing the new season. He told Entertainment Weekly: “For the first time ever, we don’t wrap things up at the end of [season] 4, so it’s going to be moving. I don’t know that it’s going to be going 100 miles an hour at the start of 5, but it’s going to be moving pretty fast.”
What’s more, the Stranger Things writers tweeted a photo of planning for the final season and captioned it, “Grid Stage.” The teaser revealed a whiteboard divided into eight columns and organized by each episode, suggesting that the last season will have one episode less than its predecessor.
It’s a step back from what fans expected after last season’s extra, movie-length episode, but the creators offered up an explanation in August. “I don’t think the run times will be as extreme in season 5,” Matt told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re trying to return to the simplicity of the structure in season 1, with bigger scale and scope.”
Though it may not be as lengthy as its season 4 counterpart, don’t be disappointed — it seems like season 5 will jam in a lot of action. Matt said he still expects the final episode to be “pretty massive.” Comparing it plot-wise to the over three-hour conclusion of Lord of the Rings, the Duffer Brothers reassured it will feature “like, eight endings.”
Netflix announced on Instagram that season 5 scripts had been written back in November, posting the title page of an episode 1 script titled, “The Crawl.”
Are there any Stranger Things season 5 spoilers?
One storyline sure to carry over is Will (Noah Schnapp)’s relationship with Mike (Finn Wolfhard). In July 2022, the Stranger Things actor reflected on the finale with Variety. “I mean, it’s pretty clear this season that Will has feelings for Mike,” Noah told the outlet. “They’ve been intentionally pulling that out over the past few seasons. Even in season 1, they hinted at that and slowly, slowly grew that storyline.”
He added: “I think for season 4, it was just me playing this character who loves his best friend but struggles with knowing if he’ll be accepted or not and feeling like a mistake and like he doesn’t belong. Will has always felt like that.”
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things season 4 volume 2.
“All his friends, they all have girlfriends and they all fit into their different clubs. Will has never really found anywhere to fit in,” Noah concluded. “I think that’s why so many people come up to me and tell me that they love Will and they resonate with him so much because it’s such a real character.”
Aging out of adolescence and, of course, away from the Mind Flayer of it all, Will’s in for a huge journey ahead. “Now he’s scared to come out and doesn’t know if they’ll accept him,” Noah said. “And then Eleven is like his sister, but he doesn’t want to hurt her because if he says he likes Mike, that’s gonna hurt her feelings. There’s all these things running in his mind. So I kind of just have to make sure that I’m conveying the depth of all his traumas.”
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers and Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things season 4 volume 2.
In a separate interview published by Variety this July, Ross Duffer confirmed Will’s (and consequently, Noah’s) trajectory in season 5, which involves the character evolving from teen to young adult and being a principal role throughout the final episodes.
“Will really takes center stage again in [season] 5,” he told the outlet. “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.”
Like their onscreen characters, the real-life actors are growing up. The coronavirus pandemic set back production’s timeline, which presented a major dilemma that the geniuses behind the hit Netflix series have started to think about.
“I’m sure we will do a time jump,” Ross told TVLine in June 2022. “Ideally, we’d have shot [seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that. So these are all discussions we’re going to have with our writers when we start the room up.”
Season 5 definitely won’t start like any other season. It will be “pedal to the metal from the opening scene,” he added. Oh, speaking of, expect an emotional conclusion. “We do have an outline for season 5, and we pitched it to Netflix and they really responded well to it,” Ross told The Wrap in May 2022. “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.”
David Harbour also relayed to Variety that he’d been privy to the season 5 ending and found it “quite moving and quite beautiful.”
Who will be in the Stranger Things season 5 cast?
Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in Stranger Things season 4 volume 2.
Hawkins’ favorite group of misfits reunited at the end of season 4, and though there was some uncertainty surrounding whether Max (Sadie Sink) is dead — RIP Eddie (Joseph Quinn) — the Duffer Brothers confirmed she’s very much alive. Here are all the other returning characters we can expect next season:
- Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven
- Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
- Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
- Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
- Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
- Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler
- Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
- Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
- Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
- David Harbour as Hopper
- Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley
Curious about where this leaves Vecna? When asked how the villain factors into the show’s final season, offscreen actor Jamie Campbell Bower told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2022, “Let me put it this way: I know about season 5. Take from that what you will.” So, it’s definitely not the last we’ll see of his reign in the upside down …
How to watch and stream Stranger Things season 5
Catch up on Stranger Things by streaming seasons 1 through 4 exclusively on Netflix. Subscriptions start at $9.99 per month. Grab your laptop and watch on the Netflix website. Or if you prefer to view on a mobile device, the Netflix app is available on smartphones, smart TVs and game consoles, among other platforms.
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