The end of ‘Stranger Things’ is coming soon … (sort of). Here’s what we know

The wait for the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” is (almost) over.
More than two years after Season 4 hit Netflix and introduced viewers to the monster Vecna — another menacing threat from the Upside Down — “Stranger Things” is finally getting ready to unleash Season 5.
Production on the highly anticipated season was delayed due to the writers and actors strikes last year. “Stranger Things” began filming its final season at the start of this year — making the timing of its release somewhat sooner than some fans were expecting considering how long the post-production phase can take.
But fans will still have to wait just a little bit longer.
On Nov. 6 — dubbed “Stranger Things” Day because it marks the anniversary of Will Byers going missing from Hawkins, Indiana, back in Season 1 — the show finally revealed that the fifth season will hit Netflix next year.
“In the fall of 1987, one last adventure begins,” reads a caption on the show’s official X account. “Stranger Things 5 coming 2025.”
The long-awaited announcement also came with an official teaser that provided the titles of the final eight episodes — a storyline fans hope will provide some closure and set things right once and for all in Hawkins.
“Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer have long hinted that the fifth season will be somewhat of a full-circle arc for the show, a return to what captivated audiences in the first place.
Some of the Season 5 episode titles indicate the Duffer brothers are still moving in that direction.
The second episode, titled “The Vanishing of …” mirrors the very first episode of the show — “The Vanishing of Will Byers” — that set everything into motion. The final episode of the upcoming season, “The Rightside Up,” also circles back to the finale of Season 1, titled “The Upside Down.”
“We wanna go back to a lot of the things we did in Season 1,” Matt Duffer previously told Entertainment Weekly. “A lot of the original groupings and pairings that we had in Season 1 — there’s something nice about coming full circle.”
Fans have speculated that Holly Wheeler, the younger sister of Mike Wheeler, will be the “Stranger Things” character who goes missing in Season 5 — mainly because the character has been recast with “Evil Dead Rise” actor Nell Fisher in the role, potentially pointing to a bigger storyline for the character, according to Screen Rant.
Another episode, titled “Escape from Camazotz,” could reference a new monster or threat for the Hawkins gang. Camazotz is an ancient Mayan god with a bat-like form, and is also a figure in Dungeons & Dragons, a game that is a common thread throughout “Stranger Things.” Perhaps Camazotz is not too unlike the demobats from Season 4 that took Eddie Munson after his Upside Down-shattering Metallica guitar solo.
(And speaking of Eddie, a popular fan theory speculates that the character — who appeared to die after his fight with the demobats — could make a return in the new season’s first episode, “The Crawl.”)
But Camazotz could also reference the dark planet in Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” This theory may also not be too far off considering Dustin’s girlfriend, Suzie, was reading “The Wizard of Earthsea” — another sci-fi fantasy novel from the same time period — in Season 3.
Below are the titles for the eight episodes in Season 5:
The setting and time
The new teaser for Season 5 offers another major insight: Although “Stranger Things” debuted a whopping eight years ago, the final season is set in the fall of 1987 — which is four years after Will went missing in Season 1.
This marks an 18-month jump from the Season 4 finale — the longest time jump between seasons in the show’s history, per Screen Rant. This could work to the show‘s advantage as the main stars are all now ages 20 and up.
“So I started when I was 10, and I’m now turning 20 years old,” Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, said in a behind-the-scenes video shared on the “Stranger Things” Instagram account this year. “It feels very weird.”
The Duffer brothers have also said the fifth season will return to the show’s roots by being set entirely in Hawkins, according to Entertainment Weekly. But that doesn’t mean the scope of the story will be limited.
“Season 4 was big, Season 5 definitely feels bigger,” Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna, said in the behind-the scenes video.
Some new characters
While “Stranger Things” is drawing on the style and inspiration of its first season, the fifth season will introduce some new cast members — including “The Terminator” star Linda Hamilton, although the role she will play has yet to be announced. Other actors joining the cast include Fisher, Jake Connelly and Alex Breaux, per Deadline.
This is the end
Much of the plot for Season 5 has been kept under wraps, but we do know this for certain: This is the end — and it brought Netflix executives to tears, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“The last 30 minutes of it are pretty clear in our heads,” Ross Duffer told Entertainment Weekly long before production on Season 5 began. “So if we can make the journey entertaining, I think that we have an end that will hopefully satisfy. You can’t satisfy everyone, but the hope is that it’s something that feels right for this story.”
But as the final chapter of “Stranger Things” hits Netflix next year, a new chapter will also begin as it heads to Broadway. “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a production that explores the world of Hawkins when Joyce and Hopper were teens, will debut on Broadway in March, as the Deseret News previously reported.
The fate of Max
One of the biggest cliffhangers in “Stranger Things” Season 4 is the fate of Max Mayfield, played by Sadie Sink. As the “Stranger Things” teens attempted to bring down Vecna, Max — who was trapped in Vecna’s curse earlier in the season — offered herself up as bait.
The plan went horribly awry, and Max met her death for a whole minute before Eleven used her telekinetic powers to save her friend. But Eleven was unable to restore Max completely, and Max wound up in a coma with broken bones and her eyes presumably blinded.
A Vecna showdown — and a greater role for Will?
We know that the final season will see a final showdown with Vecna, whose hold on Hawkins is stronger than ever. At the end of Season 4, Will — who was trapped in the Upside Down in Season 1 — indicates that the battle is far from over, and that he can even feel to a degree what Vecna is thinking, as I reported for the Deseret News.
His character was somewhat sidelined in Season 4, and the ending of the season hinted at a greater role for him. Overall, though, Season 5 will give the “Stranger Things” gang a chance to finish what they started in Season 4.
“We wanted them to actually lose,” Matt Duffer previously said, according to Variety. “We wanted our characters to experience what that felt like. That was the big idea coming into Season 4, that they were going to lose. We were going to introduce Vecna and they were going to lose to him. That sets our characters up for what will be the ultimate final confrontation with Vecna and with the Upside Down in Season 5.”
Will Nancy and Steve get back together?
It’s clear throughout Season 4 that Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship isn’t what it used to be (although in real life, the actors are reportedly still going strong). In a long-distance relationship, the couple has some communication problems, including not talking about their upcoming plans for college. Much of Season 4 hinted at a possible reconnection between Nancy and America’s favorite babysitter, Steve Harrington, who dated in Season 1. Bringing Steve and Nancy back together would also align with the Duffer brothers’ vision of returning to some of the storylines and character pairings of the first season.
Season 4 also saw a reunion between Hopper, who had been imprisoned in a Russian camp, and Joyce Byers, setting things in motion for their relationship to finally play out in Season 5.
It would also be nice if Dustin and Suzie — who brought so much joy in Season 3 with their rendition of “The Neverending Story” theme song — could actually be together in person for Season 5.
So far, all we know is that the final season comes out in 2025.
Based on the show’s history, a summer release date seems likely — three of the four seasons had episodes that were released in July, though Season 2 did premiere in late October.