After being delayed several months by the writers’ strike and the actors’ strike, season 5 of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which is also the last season of the show) finally went into production at the start of 2024 with a twelve-month shooting schedule, wrapping at the end of December. Stranger Things season 5 is now being released in three parts, with volume one dropping on November 26, 2025, volume two coming along on Christmas Day, 2025, and the series finale on New Year’s Eve, with each volume being released at 8pm Eastern time. You can read what JoBlo’s own Alex Maidy had to say about volume one at THIS LINK – and while we wait for volume two, series co-creator Ross Duffer has taken to social media to give teasing previews of all three episodes that make up the second volume!
Cast and Synopsis
Stranger Things has the following synopsis: A love letter to the ‘80s classic genre films that captivated a generation, Stranger Things is a thrilling drama set in the seemingly normal Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana. After a boy vanishes into thin air, his close-knit group of friends and family search for answers and are pulled into a high-stakes and deadly series of events. Beneath the surface of their ordinary town lurks an extraordinary supernatural mystery, along with top-secret government experiments and a dangerous gateway that connects our world to a powerful yet sinister realm. Friendships will be tested and lives will be altered as what they discover will change Hawkins and possibly the world — forever. Here’s what we can expect from season 5: 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.
The cast includes Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay). New to the cast for Stranger Things season 5 are Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Nell Fisher (Evil Dead Rise), newcomer Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux (Joe Pickett).
Dark, Scary Emotional
Stranger Things is produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment. Series creators The Duffer Brothers serve as executive producers alongside Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps Entertainment, Iain Paterson, and Curtis Gwinn. The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont ended an 11-year break from directing to take the helm of two episodes of this final season.
The first episode Darabont directed was the third episode of the season, an episode that was originally meant to be directed by Dan Trachtenberg, but he got sidetracked by Predator: Badlands. Darabont returns to the helm for the fifth episode – and here’s what Ross Duffer had to say about episodes 5, 6, and 7 of season 5:
Chapters Five, Six and Seven: locked, mixed, scored, colored… Volume Two is DONE.
“Shock Jock” picks up moments after the end of “Sorcerer”. Frank Darabont is back, but he flexes very different muscles on this one than he did on “Turnbow Trap”— it’s far darker, and far scarier.
“Escape from Camazotz” is Shawn Levy’s return to the director’s chair. It’s the biggest episode of the three— and the performances make us cry every time we watch it.
“The Bridge”… we co-directed this one with Shawn. Don’t want to say too much, but aside from the finale, it’s probably the most emotional chapter of the season.
It’s gonna be a long six day wait for the finale…
Are you enjoying Stranger Things season 5 so far? What did you think of what Ross Duffer had to say about the Volume Two episodes? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
