Your ultimate guide to Stranger Things season five
Volume 1 of season five is streaming now
After it was revealed filming for Stranger Things season five had wrapped in December 2024, excitement has been rife about the final season, with theories about what will go down in Hawkins going wild.
Netflix kept us on our toes with trailers and the all important release dates. Now the first part of the final series has finally arrived, with Volume 1 arriving here in the UK at 1am on Thursday 27th November! As four episodes drop, here's your ultimate guide to Stranger Things season five.
Did it crash Netflix?
Yes, but just for five minutes according to the streaming service. Fans of the show reported problems with Netflix as the new episodes dropped at 1am GMT on 27th November. Reuters shared a response they'd received from Netflix saying: 'Some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TV devices, but service recovered for all accounts within five minutes.'
Stranger Things 5 first five minutes
To celebrate Stranger Things Day (the day that Will went missing), on 6th November 2025, Netflix released the first five minutes of the first episode from the fifth season. In the tense video, viewers get to see Will (as he was in the first season), in the Upside Down, inside Castle Byers, before he is taken by a demogorgon to Vecna's lair. Watch it in full below...
Back in 2023, the show shared the first lines from the final season. The lines read: 'Darkness. The sound of cold wind. Groaning trees. And... A child's voice. Singing a familiar song.' We now know that the song was The Clash's 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' which is a prominent song in the first season. You can find out more about the Stranger Things soundtrack here.
Is there a trailer?
Yes, on 16th July 2025 after much anticipation, Netflix released what they called a teaser trailer, but it was much longer than expected. In the trailer, fans got to see the preparations for the final battle against Vecna. Watch it below.
Then, after getting fans even more excited, it was announced that another trailer would be released on 30th October 2025. The second trailer featured more clips and kept fans on the edge of their seats as they saw the battle continue, and some of their favourite characters in tricky situations.
Stranger Things season 5 release dates
Our last epic ride through Hawkins began on 27th November 2025 in the UK, with the release of Volume 1 - which comprised of four episodes.
Volume 2 of Stranger Things 5 will then be released on 26th December 2025 - comprising of three episodes.
The epic final episode will be released in the US on 31st December 2025 at 5pm, but the time zones mean that it will be released on 1st January 2026 in the UK.
Starring cast members Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp announced the news at the 2025 Netflix Tudum event - where they also introduced a spine-tingling trailer for the fifth and final season of the hit series, which teased the final showdown between the Hawkins gang we've come to know and love, and Vecna.
Netflix release missing poster
In January 2025, Netflix shared a missing poster on Instagram. The missing person... Jane Hopper (Eleven)! The image came alongside a cryptic caption: 'Who’s really looking for Jane Hopper?
'You’re not ready for what’s to come in Stranger Things 5. #NextOnNetflix'
Fans were quick to comment on the clue, with one saying: 'But what does this mean' and another 'plz drop s5 already ðŸ˜ðŸ˜' (sic)
Stranger Things season 5 episode titles
As fans of the show will know, 6th November marks Stranger Things Day - with 6th November 1983 marking the day Will Byers was abducted into the Upside Down. In celebration of the day in 2024, bosses shared eight brand new episode titles, writing: 'In the fall of 1987, one last adventure begins. Stranger Things 5 coming 2025.'
Despite revealing the episode titles, it's the cryptic twist on Episode 2's title had fans talking, with the blurring of a name sparking talk on who may be the victim of a nether-worldly disappearance in the fifth season of the show. Following the release of the first episodes, fans discovered it was, in fact, Nancy and Mike's younger sister - Holly Wheeler.
Check out the season five episode titles below:
Episode 1 - The Crawl
Episode 2 - The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler (name previously obscured)
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
When did they begin filming Stranger Things 5?
Filming began in January 2024 for the "season fans have been waiting for", and wrapped in December that year.
Bosses wrote: 'Take it all in, nerds…we’ve hit the halfway mark of filming the final season and wanted to give you all a look at what we’ve been up to'. (sic) Showing BTS footage of thrilling stunt scenes and detailed special effects, we also see the starring cast, as they share their thoughts on the upcoming fifth season.
Showing a sweet clip of Joe Keery (who plays Steve Harrington) and Maya Hawke (who plays Robin Buckley) on the first day of filming, we're then offered a shot of starring actress Millie Bobby Brown from season one, before watching her enter her trailer for season five filming - with her adding: 'So I started when I was 10 - I'm now turning 20-years-old... It feels very weird."
As Sadie Sink (who plays Max Mayfield) enters the prop house, and pulls out Max's iconic blue tracksuit top, she adds: "We're just kind of savouring every single moment", before Noah Schnapp (who plays Will Byers) continues: "It's just so exciting. I think this is going to be the best season yet."
Caleb McLaughlin (who plays Lucas Sinclair) then adds: "Like every season, you never know what to expect. 100%, the wait will be worth it," before the incredible Jamie Campbell Bower (who plays the infamous Vecna/Henry Creel/001) teases: "Season four was big... Season five definitely feels bigger".
On 8th January 2024, Netflix confirmed that production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things had officially begun. The news was shared via the Stranger Things page on Instagram, with the caption: '🚨THIS IS A CODE RED🚨 STRANGER THINGS 5 production has officially begun!!!'. (sic)
Who will die in Season 5?
Well, prepare yourselves, as season four star Grace Van Dien has warned us of a potential bombshell heading our way in the fifth season. Grace, who played the ill-fated Chrissy Cunningham in season four, revealed she "heard someone important is going to die".
Claiming that the information was not a "spoiler", due to it being "public", the news came as a surprise to those attending the fan convention which Grace was appearing at.
Despite revealing that we will be saying goodbye to an important character in season five, the actress did not reveal who it was - or give away any clues, for that matter.
Spoiler alert!
With the release of season five Volume 1, fans now know that no major characters have met their fate yet. However, we still have another volume and the final series to come!
For now, it's anyone's guess as to which character we will lose in season five. Of course, fans have their theories, with the list being topped with Max Mayfield (who was left in a coma at the end of season four), and none other than Will Byers himself.
However, in August 2024, Sadie hinted that we will see more of Max in season five, telling Variety: "They love having me run" Sadie revealed, but she didn't elaborate on whether that's in the show, including the Upside Down, or somewhere else! "That’s all I’ll say," she concluded.
Now that season five Volume 1 has been released, we know that Max appears in the series both in a coma in her hospital bed, and trapped inside Vecna's mind.
What did the Duffer Brothers say about season five?
Although Grace didn't quite confirm the news, having only 'heard' of the important character's death, it would make some sense out of the comments made by the Duffer Brothers back in 2022.
In an interview with The Wrap, Ross and Matt Duffer explained how they ended up making some of the Netflix execs cry when they shared their plans for season five.
"We do have an outline for season five and we pitched it to Netflix and they really responded well to it," Ross explained: "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."
He continued: "And it’s not just to do with the story, just the fact that it’s like, Oh my God, this thing that has defined so many of our lives, these Netflix people who has been with us from the beginning, seven years now, and it’s hard to imagine the journey coming to an end.
"But we wrote it during the pandemic shutdown, the outline for five, and then I haven’t even honestly looked at it because it’s just too overwhelming. We’ll get into it."
While many viewers have their own theories over which characters will return (and not return), how the plot will develop and what the Duffer Brothers have in store for us, the co-creators revealed some more details ahead of its release about what we can expect in Stranger Things season five.
Following the reveal of the first episode's name back in November 2022, the Duffer Brothers joined WGFestival, where they opened up about what fans can expect in the next and final series of the hit show.
Revealing that the new series will connect to past seasons in an unexpected way, Ross said: "The success of Season 1 freaked us out and then we knew we needed to build up this bigger world, that this was going to be ongoing." He went on to explain how they filled a whiteboard with all sorts of ideas on how the show could develop.
Ross then continued: "But it was way too much — (five times) more ideas than we needed, or (10 times). For season five, we're pulling from a lot of those big season two ideas… A lot of our big ending stuff has pulled from stuff that we thought was going to be in season two."
Despite the brothers not revealing too much about the actual plot, they did explain more about the writing process. With the production of season four slowed down due to Covid, it meant the team could outline the final season before filming of season 4 started.
Then, following the reaction to season four from fans and collaborators, the brothers were able to make changes to their original document. "We re-read the document," Matt explained. "We’re like, ‘That’s cool, that’s cool. That could be a lot better. That could be a lot better'."
He went on to say: "Even the ending is a little bit different (now). A lot of the big ideas are the same, but the stuff that happens within, it's very different."
Following the revelation that someone will 'vanish' in the second episode of season five, fans have been left wondering who this could be - with many even speculating it may be Will's younger sister, Holly.
Will Stranger Things season 5 be the last?
Yes, season 5 will be the last season of the hit Netflix show. The makers of the show, the Duffer Brothers revealed in an open letter to fans before the release of season 4 Volume 1: '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 proved too large to tell in four but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale.'
They continued: 'With nine scripts, over eight-hundred pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one.
'Everyone involved is incredibly proud of the results, and we can’t wait to share it with you. Given the unprecedented length, and to get it to you as soon as possible, season 4 will be released in two volumes.'
Who is in the Stranger Things season 5 cast?
The returning cast for season 5 includes, amongst others: Millie Bobby Brown who plays Eleven, Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Noah Schnapp (Will), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Priya Ferguson (Erica), Joe Keery (Steve), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan) and Maya Hawke (Robin).
Despite Eddie Munson, who was played by Joseph Quinn, reaching an ill-fate in season four, it is thought that he will be returning for season five - however, it is likely that this will only be in flash-back scenes... For obvious reasons.
Terminator legend Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor in the epic films, joined the cast for season 5. The news was announced in at Netflix's fan event Tudum in June 2023.
It was also announced that the role of Holly Wheeler, Nancy and Will's younger sister, has been re-cast, with Nell Fisher taking over the role from twins Anniston and Tinsley Price, who shared the role in previous seasons of the show.
Will Byers in Stranger Things season 5
Will appears in season five, ahead of the release, we saw him appear in the first five minutes and it's fair to say things looked pretty intense for him.
Max Mayfield in the final season of Stranger Things
Despite Max (Sadie Sink) being left in a coma at the end of season 4, she returned for season 5. The actress appeared on Today with Hoda and Jenna in January 2023, where she opened up about the last season of the show, telling them it was going to be 'sad and scary' explaining: "These kids, this entire cast and crew, this is like family.
"I mean people say that all the time, but I genuinely mean it, and to think that we kind of have to say goodbye to that security and that we're not going to be seeing each other for another season... It's scary and sad, but I think it's exciting to kind of move on to the next chapter, I guess."
Where is the final series set?
Throughout the series, Stranger Things has had a base in Hawkins, but also had scenes set in Alaska, California, Russia and many other locations, some of them hidden underground!
With the release of season five Volume 1, first four episodes are mainly set in Hawkins and the Upside Down.
Will there be a spin-off?
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 has now been announced, it is an animated adventure due for release in 2026. The official Stranger Things Instagram account shared an interview with the Duffer Brothers about the spin-off.
What happened in Stranger Things seasons 1 - 4?
You can read our full recap of Stranger Things seasons 1 - 4 here, followed by everything you need to know about season 4.
Now take a look through facts you probably didn't know about Stranger Things:
1) Who composed the soundtrack?
The composers of the Stranger Things soundtrack (Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon) are two members of an Austin synth band called SURVIVE; their music was featured in the soundtrack of the 2014 film The Guest, starring Dan Stevens.
2) The original trailer was based on Hollywood horror films
To help sell the show, the Duffers edited a mock 'trailer' combining clips from over 25 feature films, including E.T., Nightmare on Elm Street, Super 8 and Halloween. They found the music of US band SURVIVE and thought it'd be the perfect soundtrack for the trailer, so they requested to use it, with the band members telling Billboard in August 2016: "They had a preliminary mock trailer they made to pitch the idea and they used the last song on our first LP, 'Dirge'. They sent it to us and said, 'We have this show we're working on, are you still a band?' We hadn't released anything in a couple years and when they asked if we were available we were like, 'Yeah!' That was July 3 of last year. They asked if we had any other music and ... we sent them 50 songs the next day. They responded with a bunch of exclamation points. We had a couple calls to get to know each other and we knew we were pitching against a couple other composers."
3) Winona Ryder's hairstyle inspiration
Winona Ryder wanted her hairstyle modelled after Meryl Streep's hair in Silkwood, with Stranger Things Hair Designer Sarah Hindsgaul writing on Instagram: 'Winona is the reason I'm on Stranger Things. For this look we pulled inspiration from Meryl Streep in Silkwood. We almost cut her real hair, but a last-minute switch to a wig gave us the style you see here. And to this day, I'm grateful for her trust, her kindness, and her friendship. She's pure magic.'
4) The title sequence was 80s inspired
The title sequence was inspired by the work of Richard Greenberg, who designed a number of classic 80s title sequences including Alien, Altered States, Superman and The Goonies - which starred a young Sean Astin, who later appeared in Stranger Things as Joyce's boyfriend Bob Newby. The Duffer Brothers told Typeroom: 'What (Greenberg) specialised in was using just graphics: title graphics, titles over titles. That's something we really wanted to do. Part of it was, it felt it represented the show well. What if we just go back to the simplicity of these great titles we loved growing up? There's something to us that feels epic about those titles.'
5) The writers had an 80s movie marathon
Before starting the show, the writers all watched (or rewatched) a large list of films, including E.T., Stand By Me, The Goonies, The Thing and A Nightmare on Elm Street. They also created a 'look book' which was designed in the style of a vintage Stephen King novel, to help sell the show. They told The Hollywood Reporter how they'd created the font, with Matt saying: "We were working with this company called Imaginary Forces, and I think we sent them 14 or 15 different covers, not all Stephen King, but 90 percent Stephen King paperback covers, that we really liked. They came back with that font, and that was really close to what is in the show."
Ross added: "When we sold the show to Netflix, and when we were pitching it around to companies, we made a little look book. In the front cover, we made it look like an old Stephen King book, and we had a very similar font in the red and the outline and there was a bike that was just on the ground that was lost. It's funny, it's a year and a little bit later and I'm seeing these billboards with this bike on the ground. It's actually amazing how much, and it's exciting that Netflix just embraced the tone and they embraced what we wanted to do, that it stayed true to that feeling from beginning to end."
6) Which two stars worked together before?
Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine (Dr. Martin Brenner) have appeared together once before, in the music video for Roy Orbison's 'A Love So Beautiful'. Matthew told The Guardian about working with her: "Roy Orbison had passed when we made the music video, so no, I didn't get to meet him. It really was a tribute to him. I knew Winona from her work and vice versa – she is a passionate fan of Birdy. It was a pleasure to meet and work with her. The song is so tragically beautiful."
7) Which child stars were on Broadway?
Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin) and Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas) have both acted on Broadway. Gaten played Gavroche in Les Miserables and Caleb played Young Simba in The Lion King. The two boys knew each other but they didn't become close friends until after working on Stranger Things.
8) Two actors aren't actually American
Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers) and Millie Brown (Eleven) are both from the UK. Charlie is from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, and Millie is from Bournemouth, Dorset. Although she was originally born in Marbella, Spain to British parents, the family moved back to the UK when she was four and lived in Bournemouth for four years. They then relocated once more to Orlando, Florida four years later - so although she was brought up in a British family, she lived a lot of her life in the US as a child.
9) Gaten's voice changed throughout the first season
Gaten's voice changed so much by the time production ended that the sound team were unable to use him for additional dialogue recording. Finn Wolfhard (Mike) told GQ in 2023: "I think even in season one, people were changing pretty rapidly. Another shout out to Gaten. His voice changed halfway through filming - probably episode four. His voice is completely different. If you go back, you can tell that his voice changed, which is really funny. I guess that's the nature of working with kids for an extended period."
10) Caleb's idea on his costume
It was Caleb's request to wear a camouflage bandana in the show; he wears it for the final three episodes. He told GQ in 2019: "The bandana was my idea. I felt like Lucas would want a bandana because he was into combat and the army. So I just asked, 'Can I get a bandana over here?' I had the privilege to do that." He also told Flaunt in 2020: "When I was younger, I would go out and play with my sister in our backyard. I would put on the Captain America mask and put a cape on to get ready, and it was Lucas' moment to put on the bandana and utility belt. If he had the utility belt and wrist rocket, he definitely had a bandana."
11) How was the Demogorgon made?
The monster was achieved through a combination of prosthetics, animatronics, performance and CG. The Duffer Brothers told Entertainment Weekly: "It has always been something of a lifelong dream to create a monster and bring it to life on-screen. Not in the computer, but for real. To build it. Like so many filmmakers our age and older, we grew up on genre films that existed before computer graphics. There was something about the effects being so tangible in those films that made them especially terrifying to us when we were kids. We're specifically thinking about Ridley Scott's Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, and Clive Barker's Hellraiser. So from very early on we knew we wanted to build an animatronic monster."
They hired concept designer Aaron Sims to help them get their initial design ideas down, then worked with company Spectral Motion who've worked with Guillermo del Toro to make the animatronic creature. They added: "It is an interdimensional being that has more in common with the shark from Jaws than Pennywise from It."
12) Monsters Inc. helped children on set
The toddlers on set were very scared by the 'monster', but they were calmed when told that he was just like the monsters in Monsters Inc. In the same Entertainment Weekly interview, they explained: "We loved it, and so did the actors. Well… not all of them. There were some toddlers on set: Millie's little sister, Ava, as well as Anniston and Tinsley, the twins who play toddler Holly. As you can expect, these little girls were all terrified by the monster. Finally someone had the clever idea to tell them that the monster was not a bad monster at all; rather, he came from world of Monstropolis in Monsters, Inc. And it worked! The monster wasn't scary to them anymore, he was a friend! This was even more satisfying given that Millie's little sister looks and behaves exactly like Boo."
13) How did they get Millie to float in the water?
The gang really did create a salt bath, and Millie Bobby Brown actually floated - there were no effects used! To get Millie to float in a kiddie pool, twelve hundred pounds of epsom salt were dissolved into the water. She told Variety in 2022: "I'm not gonna lie, that was hard. The amount of salt that they put in there in order for me to float is real. They actually do get an egg and put it in the water, and if it floats, then that's when I can get in. I'm in there for a few days, 10 to 12 hours a day. Everyone's moving around you and you can't get out. I couldn't hear anyone, because obviously my ears were underwater. So when I'd get notes, I was just hoping that I was doing what maybe they were saying. We had to use a microphone in order for them to actually get their note across to me. Also, I suffer from claustrophobia, so when we closed the tank, I definitely felt like, 'Oh my gosh, I am Eleven, I am really going through this.' Obviously, what she has to go through, reliving those memories, was probably harder, though, than a tank."
14) Millie's incredible water tank stunt
For some of the laboratory scenes, Millie (Eleven) was fully submerged in an underwater immersion tank. She was able to breathe by wearing a Sea Trek helmet, which weighs approximately 70 lbs above water; it weighs 15 lbs beneath the surface of the water. The helmet was designed for shallow 'underwater walking'.
15) Did Millie really shave her head for Stranger Things?
Millie had to shave most of her hair off for the show and as can be expected of any 11Â-year-old girl this was a terrifying prospect. The Duffers showed her how cool Charlize Theron looked in Mad Max: Fury Road after which Millie agreed to it. In 2025, she called it a "liberating experience" that she would "love" to do again now that she's older. However, Millie did not shave her head again for season four, with the Stranger Things Instagram page sharing a video in 2022 of a wig being applied to her head.
16) Stand By Me was a pivotal film for auditions
The Duffers had all the boys audition with scenes from Stand By Me. Casting director Carmen Cuba told Casting Frontier: "We made a real effort to find kids that could embody the idea of being an outsider. We hoped that interesting kids would bring the material to life. And the truth is the material was so great, so set, the tone was all clear. Sometimes when you're casting, it's a little ambiguous, and you sort of find it while you're auditioning. And that wasn't the case with this. We just needed to match the kids to the quality of the characters as written."
17) David Harbour did NOT think the show would be a success
David Harbour appeared on The One Show in 2022, and was asked if he thought it would be a success. He said: "Not at all. I remember when we were shooting the first season. We were down in Atlanta, Netflix had given us a budget of about $20 and we thought halfway through... I remember my hair person coming up to me, about episode 4 we were shooting, and she said, 'I don't think it's going to work'."
The actor continued: "So by the time we wrapped, I thought we wouldn't get a second season, we'd be the first Netflix show ever to never get a second season. We thought no one would watch it, it was going to be a disaster."
His co-star Natalia Dyer (AKA Nancy Wheeler) added to The Independent in 2020: "Nobody knew if it was going to get picked up again after we finished filming season one. There was really an air of, 'We might never see each other again'. No-one had any idea how successful the show would be. There was no preparation – there couldn't have been, even if we'd known. It was a surprising and overwhelming shock. Then it was like, 'OK, this is how it is now'."
Now read:
All of the Stranger Things movie references REVEALED
Stranger Things: A recap of the first four seasons
Stranger Things: Everything you want to know about the series