Spoiler Warning! This article or section reveals details from the fifth season. Read at your own discretion...

Stranger Things 5, the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, was officially announced on February 17, 2022.^[3] The season is currently filming and is slated to release in 2025.^[1][4]

Synopsis[]

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Cast and characters[]

Episodes[]

#	Image	Title	Director	Writers
35		"The Crawl"[11]	The Duffer Brothers[12]	The Duffer Brothers
		TBA
36		"Episode 36"	TBA	TBA
		TBA
37		"Episode 37"	Frank Darabont[13]	TBA
		TBA
38		"Episode 38"	The Duffer Brothers[14]	TBA
		TBA
39		"Episode 39"	TBA	TBA
		TBA
40		"Episode 40"	TBA	TBA
		TBA
41		"Episode 41"	TBA	TBA
		TBA
42		"Episode 42"	TBA	TBA
		TBA

Development[]

As far back as September 2017, the Duffer Brothers and executive producer Shawn Levy had decided Stranger Things would "definitely" last four seasons, and would possibly extend to a fifth.^[15]

Following the announcement of Season 4's release dates, the Duffer Brothers confirmed Stranger Things would get a fifth and final season.^[3]

On May 19, 2022, the Duffers revealed that Season 4 hints towards big events from Season 5, and suggested there would be a greater time jump between the two seasons. In addition, they described how the six-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic gave the writers' room additional time to complete scripts compared to previous seasons, which in turn freed them up to outline all of Season 5.^[16]

Later, on July 5, 2022, the Duffers said they were to start writing the scripts in earnest in the first week of August.^[17] They also affirmed that the season's storylines will mostly take place in Hawkins and the Upside Down, in contrast to Season 4. The Duffers also planned to bring the story "full circle" by re-exploring some of the original groups and character pairings from Season 1, but on a grander scale. They expected the finale to be a similar length to the Season 4 finale; they planned to give all the characters a proper send-off, similar to "Return of the King-ish with eight endings."^[18]

Furthermore, the Duffers have said Season 5 will delve into various lingering mysteries. These mysteries include the government program at Hawkins Lab and "what happened to [it] once Henry became involved", saying the final season will expand upon how Dr. Brenner "evolved it" into including multiple kids. In addition, the Upside Down being seemingly "frozen" on the date November 6, 1983 will come into focus as a major plot point.^[19]

On August 2, 2022, @strangerwriters announced writing for Season 5 had officially begun.^[20] On August 25, the account posted a photo indicating that the season will consist of eight episodes, re-iterating what the Duffers had already suggested in interviews.^[21] On September 20, the account posted a photo of the then-completed grid for the 8 episodes, but with the words blurred to conceal spoilers.^[2]

The first episode title was revealed to be "The Crawl" on November 6, 2022, as part of Stranger Things Day.

According to the Duffer Brothers, the second episode was being written throughout early November of 2022, with The Crawl being completed two weeks prior.^[22]

Shawn Levy has teased the final season to be on a blockbuster movie scale.^[23]

Casting[]

As part of Netflix's TUDUM on June 17, 2023, it was announced that Linda Hamilton had joined the cast.^[6]

On July 15, 2024, it was announced that Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux had joined the cast.^[24]

Production[]

Filming[]

On October 8, 2022, David Harbour revealed filming was set to begin in summer 2023.^[25][26] Later, Noah Schnapp revealed principal photography would begin in May 2023.^[27] However, David Harbour later informed fans during Middle East Comic Con that filming would commence one month later, in June.^[25] Another source suggested filming was set to begin on May 15, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.^[28]

In an interview released on February 1, 2023, Finn Wolfhard suggested Stranger Things 5 might release in 2025.^[29] On February 17, Schnapp revealed via TikTok that he had received the first three scripts.

On May 6, 2023, it was reported that production of the final season had been delayed due to the WGA writers strike, as the strike prevented writers from doing further rewrites, or discussing scripts with cast and crew while filming.^[30] The SAG-AFTRA actors strike, carried out simultaneously and in solidarity with the WGA, also caused delays to Season 5's production.^[31]

On June 28, Netflix announced Dan Trachtenberg would direct an episode through a press release, with @strangerwriters clarifying that his episode wouldn't be "The Crawl".^[32][33]

On September 11, Shawn Levy had been announced to direct an episode in the final season.^[34]

On September 27, the writers strike ended, with @strangerwriters announcing their return shortly after.^[35][36]

On September 28 and 29, @strangerwriters shared previsualization snippets of Steve and Jonathan. On October 20, the account posted another pre-vis snippet featuring Jonathan, Nancy and Dustin in a vehicle. The account joked that, if the SAG-AFTRA strike didn't yield a fair deal for the actors, the crew would be forced to replace actors with their pre-vis counterparts.^[37][38][39] A deal was finally struck between the actors guild and the studios on November 8, clearing the way for filming to begin on Season 5.^[40]

From around October 30 to November 2, the Duffers were "shot-listing" the first two episodes.^[41]

On November 21, @strangerwriters posted a video of all the costumes the characters will be wearing in season five while revealing the table reading for the scripts would happen before the end of 2023.^[42]

On December 8, Deadline reported that production for the fifth season will resume in January 2024.^[43]

On December 19, it was reported that Frank Darabont was in talks to direct two episodes.^[44]

On January 5, 2024, filming for the fifth season reportedly began.^[45] On January 8, the Stranger Things social media accounts revealed that production on Season 5 had officially begun. This included a picture of the main cast, which notably confirmed the return of Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield while hinting Amybeth McNulty's Vickie might have a larger role.^[4]

On January 9, the Stranger Things social media accounts posted several new behind the scenes photos. One photo of Joe Keery and Maya Hawke included a clapperboard, with the timestamp suggesting about 25 minutes of "The Crawl" had already been filmed. Information featured on the clapperboard also confirmed that the Duffers would serve as the directors of this episode, as with the first episodes of all prior seasons.^[12]

On January 11, Ross Duffer and the Stranger Things social media accounts posted a behind-the-scenes photo of Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, notably wearing a torn Hellfire Club shirt with longer hair.^[46]

On January 19, Ross Duffer posted further on-set pictures and videos to Instagram. The first picture included Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, with shorter hair than the previous season. Another picture in the slideshow revealed Finn Wolfhard walking in a field alongside Millie Bobby Brown.^[47]

In a video posted by the Stranger Things Instagram account on January 24, Cara Buono said she was preparing to film a scene from the second episode, also mentioning that it was her first day back on set.^[48]

On February 2, further behind-the-scenes photos were posted by Ross Duffer, including Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven.^[49]

On February 9, a video of Amybeth McNulty as Vickie was posted to the "Stranger Things 5- In Production" channel on Instagram. A few on-set photographs taken by McNulty were also posted, highlighting the return of Hawkins Memorial Hospital. One photograph featured Maya Hawke in costume as Robin Buckley. ^[50][51][52]

On February 16, Ross Duffer posted further on-set pictures to Instagram, this time showing Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler and Matt Duffer.^[53]

On March 1, Ross Duffer posted more pictures to Instagram, showing Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield and Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair with longer hair.^[54]

On March 12, filming on the fourth episode began.^[55]

On March 15, Ross Duffer posted another group of photos from weeks 9-10 which showed David Harbour as Jim Hopper sporting notably longer hair and a longer beard.^[56]

On March 22, Ross Duffer posted two photos of Noah Schnapp as Will Byers to Instagram, with one photo showing Noah alongside an unnamed child actor seemingly portraying a younger Will. The actors appeared to be recreating the scene inside Castle Byers at the very end of "The Bathtub", in which Will was finally captured by the Demogorgon.^[57]

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on April 12, Linda Hamilton revealed that the "Volume" virtual set technology was being used for filming Season 5.^[58]

On an episode of the Standard Issue Podcast released April 28, Kate Trefry confirmed that Frank Darabont was directing at least one episode, specifically episode three. This marks a change from prior seasons, in which Shawn Levy would usually direct episodes three and four; Levy was unable to do so in season five's case due to his commitment to finishing Deadpool & Wolverine, now only directing a single episode.^[59]

On May 17, Ross posted more behind-the-scenes photos from week 15-19 of filming, including Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers with shorter hair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington and Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley.^[60]

On July 3, Ross announced that the filming of season 5 is halfway done.^[61]

On July 15, the Stranger Things social media accounts posted a BTS video of season 5 including several of the characters in the show and also some clips from the season. ^[62]

In an interview released on July 19, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos revealed that Stranger Things 5 is currently slated to release in 2025.^[1]

Music[]

Season 5 will almost certainly be scored by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.

Marketing[]

Images[]

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Videos[]

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Gallery[]

• Behind the scenes
• Videos

Chapter 1: The Crawl

Character list for after the holidays

Posted by Ross Duffer on the Set of Stranger Things 5

Maya in patient room 110

Natalia Dyer on set of ST5

Sadie & Caleb on set of ST5

David on set of ST5

Charlie and Natalia shooting a scene

Ross & Charlie Heaton on set of ST5

Stranger Things 5 Casting Announcement - Netflix

Behind The Scenes - Stranger Things 5 - On Set of The Final Season - Netflix

Trivia[]

• Actor David Harbour, who portrays Hopper, was the only cast member to know how the series ends prior to the fifth season's writing, describing it as "quite moving and beautiful".^[63]
• Actress Sadie Sink has stated that the Duffer Brothers refuse to reveal the fate of Max to her.^[64]
• An open casting call seeking 1988 or older vintage vehicles suggests that Season 5 might be set in 1988.^[65]
• Eduardo Franco, who played Argyle, had said he may not return in the fifth season since he never got a call back from the Stranger Things production company.^[66]

References