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Stranger Things Season 5's First Look Will Turn You Upside Down
It’s the end of an era for Finn Wolfhard.
The Stranger Things star penned a heartfelt sendoff to the critically-acclaimed Netflix series after finishing production on the show’s final season, which is set to debut in 2025.
“We just wrapped Stranger Things Season 5,” he wrote on Instagram Dec. 20. “I’m still in shock. We shot it for a year and I’ll miss all of my friends and our characters terribly.”
Along with the note, the 21-year-old posted a photo of himself posing with some of his castmates—including Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery and Natalia Dyer—taken in the early days of the sci-fi series. He followed the throwback pic with two behind-the-scenes snaps from season five, illustrating just how much the young cast—which also includes Millie Bobby Brown—has grown up since the series debuted in 2016.
“When I think of the show, I picture this first photo,” Finn continued. “A bunch of goofy young people making something they think is cool but really have no clue what’s to come. I feel like we’re still those people and I’m lucky to still stand beside them today.”
He ended the note by teasing the final episodes, writing, “I hope you’ll love this season as much as I do. See you all next year.”
Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images
Netflix previously teased the series’ conclusion in November with a teaser trailer containing the names of all eight upcoming episodes. The second episode of the season, however, is mysteriously titled “The Vanishing of—,” with the name of the character in question blurred out.
As for the rest of the episodes, the titles include “The Crawl,” “The Turnbow Trap,” “Sorcerer,” “Shock Jock,” “Escape from Camazotz,” “The Bridge” and “The Rightside Up."
While you wait for the fifth season of Stranger Things, learn everything we know so far about the upcoming final chapter of the saga by reading on.
Netflix
Farewell Forever?
While Max's fate is still up in the air, Matt and Ross Duffer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) is dead "for real this time." As they said, "He's toast."
Same goes for Eddie (Joseph Quinn), who sacrificed himself to the Demobats to buy time for the rest of the kids fighting. Joseph told E! News he's still hoping to reappear in the show, saying, "I'd be very up for it. But yeah, let's see."
As for Max (Sadie Sink), the brothers aren't giving up on her just yet. "She's brain dead, but yeah, she's alive," they said. "She's blind and all of her bones are broken."
Netflix
Max's Future
While Max is technically still alive, there's no knowing if she'll ever wake up from her coma. "I have no idea what's coming in five and what that looks like," Sadie said in an interview with Deadline. "Max's storyline is very up in the air, 'cause obviously she's in a coma and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) can't find her in the void. So who knows where she is and what state she's in."
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The Love Triangle
Even Natalia Dyer is confused about who Nancy belongs with. On one hand, she thinks Nancy and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) are a good match, but she also sees that Steve (Joe Keery) has grown up. And there's a part of her that thinks Nancy shouldn't be with either one of them. "It's really tough," she told Variety. "I don't know. It feels like she's been in a relationship for a while so maybe she needs some self discovery time."
She continued, "Whatever happens, I would hope that she does it with integrity. I personally had some crunchy feelings about how the whole Jonathan thing started sort of behind Steve's back. I can't believe she did that. I mean, I can."
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Will and Vecna
In the season finale, Will (Noah Schnapp) confirmed he and Vecna are still connected after they were linked to each other in season two. When asked if fans will see the two characters interact in season five, Jamie Campbell Bower told E! News, "We all know by now that Vecna and Will have history. So it would be a joy to to get back in there, as I'll gently put it."
In fact, Jamie remained secretive throughout the entire interview, but promised the Duffers have got it all thought out. "My lips are sealed," he said. "You'll have to wait and see. I think Matt and Ross got something beautiful cooking and they'll let us know in good time."
Netflix
Goodbye, California
While Joyce (Winona Ryder), Will (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) initially sought to start anew in California, it seems the Byers family is missing Hawkins and their hometown friends. So, they're leaving their California home and returning to Indiana, alongside Hopper and Eleven, in season five.
"It's mostly in Hawkins, and there's a lot obviously in the Upside Down," Matt Duffer told Collider about their season five plans. "But this is about everyone finally coming back. Coming back together, coming back to Hawkins.
Tina Rowden/Netflix
Production Plans
The Duffer Brothers have mostly planned out season five, the final installment, but there's no knowing when filming will begin.
"This last season took two years in total, so who knows how long season five will take," Sadie Sink told Deadline. "The Duffers definitely know the fans will be eagerly awaiting a fifth season, but I don't think they're gonna rush it. They wanna make the best final season that they could possibly make."
They may not rush the process, but it seems they're cutting down on the amount of scenes in the final season. The Duffer Brothers promised the upcoming episodes will be slightly shorter, though they anticipate the finale is going to be another feature-length episode.
"The only reason we don't expect to be as long is, this season, if you look at it, it's almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery," Matt Duffer told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, they're struggling with adapting to high school and so forth, Steve's trying to find a date, all of that. None of that is obviously going to be occurring [in season 5]."
Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix
Production is Officially Underway
On Jan. 8, Netflix confirmed that production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is underway by sharing a sweet group photo of the Hawkins crew.
"THIS IS A CODE RED," the streaming service announced on social media. "STRANGER THINGS 5 production has officially begun!!!"
Netflix
All Will Be Answered
In an exclusive interview with E! News, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy promised that season five "will answer all remaining questions," adding, "we are in the business of satisfying viewers."
Netflix
The Beginning of the End
On Nov. 6, fondly known as Stranger Things Day, Netflix revealed that the first episode of the final season will be titled, "Chapter One: The Crawl."
Netflix
It Ends With Will
It appears that Will Byers will be the key to how Stranger Things wraps up its run on Netflix. On what fans can expect from the final season, star Noah Schnapp teased to Forbes, "I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to. The way they closed the show is just perfect—the story started with Will, and it'll end with Will."
Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images
It'll Be Very Long
Maya Hawke recently revealed the upcoming series is "basically eight movies."
As she explained on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed in June 2024, “The episodes are very long.”
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