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Andrew Webster is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
It’s been a long time coming, but we finally have a real look at the end of Stranger Things. Netflix just released the first teaser trailer for the show’s fifth season, which will also be its last when it starts streaming later this year. As was alluded to in the finale of season 4, the new trailer — which, despite being called a teaser, clocks in at nearly three minutes long — is focused on the major showdown with Vecna that will presumably end the string of supernatural bad luck in Hawkins, Indiana for good.
Here’s the official setup for the finale, according to Netflix:
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 finale of Stranger Things is a big deal for Netflix, particularly after Squid Game wrapped up earlier in the year and as its other big genre franchise, The Witcher, also has an end date in sight. Because of this, the streamer is stretching out season 5 across three different releases. Volume 1 will start streaming on on November 26th, followed by a second volume on December 25th. Things then culminate in a finale on New Year’s Eve. It’s similar to the strategy for season 4, which was divided into two halves when it premiered back in 2022.
Of course, while this is the end of the main series, Netflix isn’t letting go of Stranger Things just yet. There are spinoffs in the works, including an animated series called Tales From ‘85, and series creators the Duffer brothers are working on other projects for Netflix as well.
English (US) ·