The first image from Stranger Things 5 has dropped. But, what else do we know about the final season?

What Do We Know About Stranger Things‘s upcoming fifth and final season, or simply Stranger Things 5 (as Netflix is calling it). More than you may think. The Netflix series was an instant hit when it debuted in 2016 and has since become a pop culture mainstay. After the two-part fourth season set the stakes for the series’s end, fans have been waiting for years to see how it all ends. Let’s dive in and look at what is coming from The Duffer Brothers for the end of their iconic streaming series.

The final season was planned out before the fourth began shooting

Thanks to COVID-19. The Duffer Brothers began planning the fifth season of Stranger Things before they started the extended production of the fourth season, marking the first time in the series that they wrote this far in advance. The Duffers did go back and adjust their outline based on feedback on the fourth season including changing the series final episodes. The Duffers have confirmed that the majority of the outline for the final season remained unchanged. Still, we will probably have to wait until after the final run debuts to learn what was actually adjusted.

There will only be one batch of episodes released

The final season will comprise eight episodes, the same as the first and third seasons and one less than the second and fourth. While the fourth season split the release of the nine episodes by reserving the final two chapters for a month after the first seven, it remains to be seen if the same will be done for what is expected to be one of the most-watched series finales of all time.

The final season will be epic

The writing staff of the final season have described the ending of Stranger Things as “if seasons 1 and 4 had a baby” and that the narrative feels like it was “injected with steroids”. Fan response to the fourth season has been exceptionally positive. Still, with the characters split between multiple locations across the season and only coming together in the final episodes, audiences hope this season will keep the cast together as they confront Vecna and his minions from the Upside Down as they invade our world.

Who is joining the cast?

The main cast is all set to reprise their roles, including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, and Cara Buono. Jamie Campbell Bower is set to return as the evil Vecna, while Amybeth McNulty has been upped to a regular after playing Vickie in the fourth season. The lone new addition to the cast we know of is Linda Hamilton, who is joining in an undisclosed role that some online theorists think may be a grown-up version of Eleven.

Who is directing?

The Duffers Brothers will direct multiple episodes, with the premiere episode already credited to them. I imagine they will also helm the series finale. We also know that Shawn Levy and Dan Trachtenberg will direct at least one episode each. Who could be behind the camera for the remaining four chapters remains to be seen, although a persistent rumor states Frank Darabont may be directing one or two episodes.

What is it about?

With production underway since January 2024, we know very little about the finals season. The Duffers have unveiled tidbits here and there, but the only concrete details we know are that the first episode of the season is titled “The Crawl” and that the script opening lines of the first scene read “The sound of COLD WIND, GROANING TREES. And… A CHILD’S VOICE. Singing a familiar song!”. The Duffers wrote a twenty-five-page mythology back during Season One to explain to Netflix executives what was happening in the Upside Down, and they state these final episodes will answer any lingering questions as yet unanswered. The Duffers have also stated that Will will be a substantial part of the final season as he comes into his own.

When is Stranger Things’s fifth season taking place?

This is a tough one to answer. The season gap due to COVID and the 2023 strikes has been challenging as the preteen cast have all entered their early twenties. The fourth season finale showed the shadow of the Upside Down literally invading the real world, making it difficult to jump too far ahead without missing some immediate plot threads due to that presence. The Duffers have said that ideally, the fourth and fifth seasons would have been shot back to back, so a time jump cannot be completely ruled out.

First Images and Trailer

While a trailer for the next season is probably months away, the Duffer Bros did share a handful of images from behind the scenes, including a shot of Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) looking worried while sitting in the backseat of Steve Harrington’s (Joe Keery) car. Check them out:

The Stranger Things series finale is not the end

With the stage play The First Shadow a hit in London and a secret spin-off in development since 2022, the end of the main stories of Stranger Things is certainly not the end of the franchise. It seems very likely that the main characters will be retired from the focus of any shows or films that come next, but Netflix will be mining this IP for animated projects, novels, games, and, yes, more series for years to come.

When will we see it?

Stranger Things 5 is slated to premiere in 2025, three years after the fourth season. The longest previous gap between seasons was the three years between three and four caused by COVID, but there is a chance this new season could trump that wait if post-production takes longer than expected after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes pushed back all of Hollywood for six months. As of March 2024, Millie Bobby Brown has stated that nine months remain in production and that she has read the script for six of the eight episodes. That would say we are unlikely to see Stranger Things 5 until late summer or likely Halloween of 2025.

Stay tuned to JoBlo.com as we learn more about the final season of Stranger Things and all your other favorite shows. What do you expect to see in the upcoming Stranger Things 5? Let us know in the comments and click the like and subscribe to follow all our latest original videos.