"Stranger Things" season 5 is coming to Netflix in 2025, and we've finally had an update on when the final episodes will air.
"Stranger Things" season 4 burst on the scene in 2022. That split batch of episodes introduced viewers to Henry Creel — aka Vecna, the show's ultimate villain — and set everything in place for an epic final arc. When the third season premieres, we'll have waited a little over three entire years to return to Hawkins and see how that final story plays out.
"Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for 'Stranger Things,'" series creators the Duffer Brothers wrote in a post announcing the final season on X. "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."
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While it might be bittersweet to be saying goodbye to the Hawkins gang and to one of the very best Netflix shows, this final adventure is shaping up to be a huge finale, one which should hopefully unravel the mysteries of the Upside Down once and for all.
Info on the show's been kept tightly under wraps, for the most part; our latest update came out of Tudum 2025, wherein Netflix revealed release dates for "Stranger Things" season 5, confirming it had been split into three parts.
Here's everything we know so far about "Stranger Things" season 5 right now.
'Stranger Things' season 5 release dates
At Tudum, Netflix confirmed the "Stranger Things" season 5 release dates, though anyone who doesn't like Netflix's split season approach won't be happy: Season 5 is being released in three volumes.
The first batch will air on November 26, 2025, the second on Christmas Day, and the third on New Year's Eve.
The fight isn’t over yet. Get ready for the epic series finale of Stranger Things.Volume 1: November 26, 5pm PT*Volume 2: Christmas, 5pm PT*The Finale: New Year's Eve, 5pm PT**releasing worldwide all at once, date may vary based on your local timezone #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/nBcx9Ast9xJune 1, 2025
On December 20, 2024, after multiple delays, we learned that the show had finally wrapped production, courtesy of an update on the show's social media, which reiterated that "Stranger Things" season 5 was coming at some point this year.
In March 2025, speaking with Screen Rant at SXSW, Sadie Sink, who plays Max Mayfield, shared some words about the emotional last day of filming.
"It's so emotional," Sink said. "We wrapped in December. It was a really hard day, but yeah, crazy to kind of say goodbye to your childhood in that way. I think I'm still processing all of it, but what a beautiful experience I've been for eight years of my life."
'Stranger Things' season 5 cast
Confirmed "Stranger Things" season 5 cast members include almost all series regulars from Season 4, including:
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven: A powerful young girl with telekinetic and telepathic abilities who escapes a government lab and is now trying to help her friends seal off the "Upside Down" and its horde of monsters forever.
Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler: Eleven's best friend and central connection to the human world.
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers: After being abducted to the Upside Down, Will Byers maintains a mysterious connection to the Upside Down, and wants to help his friends discover the mysteries behind this otherworldly realm.
Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson: The undeniable heart of the group, Dustin keeps his friends close despite overwhelming odds.
Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair: Athletic, brave, and logical, Lucas sometimes feels like an outsider, but he knows his friends always have his back.
Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield: A skateboard-loving and independent girl who becomes a close friend to the group, and a love interest for Lucas.
Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair: Lucas's no-nonsense younger sister who gets drawn into the group's mysteries.
Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler: A resourceful and intelligent high school senior who uses her journalistic skills to investigate the strange happenings in Hawkins.
Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers: Will's older brother who becomes romantically involved with Nancy.
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington: A former high school jock who develops a protective bond with Dustin and the others.
Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley: A quick-witted girl who works with Steve at Scoops Ahoy and becomes a member of the crew.
David Harbour as Jim Hopper: A gruff but caring police chief who becomes Eleven's adoptive father and Joyce Byers' love interest.
Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers: Will and Jonathan's protective mother who will do anything to keep her kids (and Jim Hopper) safe.
Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel/Vecna: A dangerous being with telekinetic powers who threatens Hawkins from the Upside Down.
In addition to this cast of regulars, Linda Hamilton (of "Terminator" fame) has joined the cast for this last trip to the Upside Down. She's playing Dr. Kay and is confirmed to be in multiple episodes.
As of our latest update, we know that Linda Hamilton isn't the only new face gracing Hawkins this time, either. In a recent set video (more on that below), we saw Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly and Alex Breaux are also on hand; they've subsequently been confirmed as Holly Wheeler, Derek Turnbow, and Lt. Akers, respectively
Sadly, one actor who won't be back is Joseph Quinn, who played fan-favorite character Eddie Munson in Stranger Things 4. The Duffer Brothers confirmed that the character would not be back for season 5 on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, and despite hopeful fan theories, said that the character truly died in season 4 during the demo-bat showdown with Dustin.
'Stranger Things' season 5 plot
The first four seasons of "Stranger Things" cover a lot of ground. The series starts off in 1983 with the disappearance of Will Byers into the mysterious realm known as the "Upside Down" His friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, search for him, encountering Eleven, a mysterious girl with telekinetic powers, who has a mysterious connection to another dimension she calls the Upside Down, which is populated with monsters that the group of friends call Demogorgons, who are beginning to make their way into our world.
The first season ends with the gang saving their friend (with some help from Sherrif Jim Hopper and Will's mother Joyce) but also unwittingly unleashing an even bigger monster.
Season 2 fast-forwards to a year later: 1984. Things appear normal in Hawkins, but unbeknownst to the group of friends, Will is being possessed by something called the Mind Flayer, who has its sights on learning more about the town. Making matters more complicated is the new girl, Max, and her brother Billy, who immediately draw attention and suspicion from the group.
Though the Mind Flayer is seemingly defeated at the end of season 2, Will alerts the group during season 3 that he believes this entity hasn't actually left and is now targeting the citizens of Hawkins as part of its plan to reopen the gate to the Upside Down. Romance and conflict blossom in equal measure within the friend group, and emotions run high as a climactic battle takes place inside the Starcourt Mall, where sacrifices are made to defeat the Mind Flayer once and for all.
Season 4 picks up in 1986, with the group scattered. Eleven and the Byers family have moved to California, while Mike visits them on spring break. But their attempt at normalcy is shattered following several gruesome murders back in Hawkins. Though Eleven gave up her powers, she must rediscover them at a secret laboratory to help defeat Vecna, an evil creature from the Upside Down who is later revealed to be Henry Creel, or 001.
Once again, all roads lead to Hawkins, as Vecna claims victim after victim in Hawkins, and his connection to Eleven is revealed. And while the team is able to temporarily deal with this threat, it is clear that Vecna isn't done with his evil plot just yet...
When "Stranger Things" season 5 picks up, a lot of time will have passed following season 4, and the Duffer Brothers have confirmed a substantial time jump will be used. The brothers have also revealed in multiple interviews that the main focus of season 5 will be to break down the mythology of the Upside Down and defeat Vecna once and for all.
We've now gotten a full synopsis from "Stranger Things" season 5 from Netflix. It reads: "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.”"
In June 2024, Vecna himself, Jamie Campbell Bower, teased that the show is hurtling towards an 'out of control' final season. Speaking on iHeart's "I've Never Said This Before with Tommy DiDario", Bower let slip that the new season is about to be massive.
"If you thought last season was nuts, this season is just out of control, wild, like, it's bonkers. It really, really is. It's bigger. It's just completely insane. It's completely insane", he said.
Is there a 'Stranger Things' season 5 trailer?
As of our latest update, we've finally got a "Stranger Things" season 5 trailer to work with, as Netflix has shared a release date announcement teaser.
Admittedly, it's mostly comprised of flashbacks to past seasons, ans functions as a sort of brief recap, but it does contain a couple of choice clips from the final season at the end... and things aren't looking good in Hawkins.
On "Stranger Things" day (November 6) 2024, Netflix treated us to a new teaser showing each of the eight episode titles, giving us plenty of material to theorycraft with. Check it out here:
In case you want those episode titles written out, here they are:
- "The Crawl"
- "The Vanishing Of ______" (censored in the teaser)
- "The Turnbow Trap"
- "Sorcerer"
- "Shock Jock"
- "Escape from Camazotz"
- "The Bridge"
- "The Rightside Up"
Last summer, Netflix shared a behind-the-scenes teaser to mark the fact that the cast and crew were officially halfway through shooting the final season.
In it, we get glimpses at some of the season 5 sets, see those new faces we mentioned above, and learn just how hyped the cast and crew are about season 5 (spoiler alert: they're all very excited). Check it out below:
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