Stranger Things Season 5: Release Date, Cast, Trailer & Everything We Know So Far

The beginning of the end.

Warning: Spoilers for Stranger Things 4: Volume 2 ahead.

It’s official: Season 5 of Stranger Things will be its last. Back in February 2022, the Duffer Brothers announced the news themselves in an open letter shared with fans alongside Season 4’s official poster.

"Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things," the duo wrote in their letter. "At the time, we predicted the story would last four or five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you'll soon see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last."

“With nine scripts, over eight hundred pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots, and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one,” the Duffer Brothers shared, calling the fourth season “the beginning of the end.” The duo also shared that the decision to split the season in two parts was due to its “unprecedented length” and to get it to fans “as soon as possible.”

The Duffer Brothers have served as the series creators and showrunners since Stranger Things premiered on Netflix back in 2016. Now, with a two-volume Season 4 in the rearview, there's only one chapter left to focus on for our favorite group of Hawkins kids.

The Duffer Brothers also hinted that though Stranger Things may be coming to an end, its universe will not. “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes.”

With the promise of so much and so little left on the horizon, we've gathered everything we know so far about Stranger Things Season 5, including release date, plot details, cast info, and more. Below, check out everything you need to know about. Stranger Things 5.

Which cast members are returning for Stranger Things Season 5?

Luckily for us, the majority of the main cast made it out of Season 4 alive, and were present in the final scene of the season. That being said, it's safe to assume that most if not all of the main cast will return for Season 5. This includes Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Noah Schnapp (Will), Priah Ferguson (Erica), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Maya Hawke (Robin), Joe Keery (Steve), David Harbour (Hopper), and Winona Ryder (Joyce).

We bid farewell to Eddie Munson (played by Joseph Quinn) in Episode 9, as he died a hero to save his friends and protect his town. The Duffer Brothers confirmed this character's death to while appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast following the finale — yet, there's two other character deaths from Volume 2 that may not actually be nail-in-the-coffin deaths.

Will new characters be introduced in Stranger Things Season 5?

While speaking to IndieWire in August, the Duffer Brothers broke down their rationale behind bringing new characters on the show.

“Whenever we introduce a new character, we want to make sure that they’re going to be an integral part of the narrative,” Ross said. “So that’s something with Eddie [in season 4], where we go, ‘Well, we need a character here for this storyline to really work, and to give it the engine that is needed.’ But every time we do that, we’re nervous, because you go, ‘We’ve got a great cast of characters here, and actors, and any moment we’re spending with a new character, we’re taking time away from one of the other actors.’ So we’re just very, very careful about who we’re introducing."

Ross and Matt went on to praise the adaptability and performances of actors brought on the series after season 1, like Joseph Quinn, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, and Dacre Montgomery. Though they avoid introducing multiple new core characters in a given season, the Duffer Brothers admitted that new characters can bring fresh ideas, just like new plot devices or new creatures to battle. 

What will Stranger Things Season 5 be about?

Stranger Things 5 will likely follow the Hawkins gang's final adventure as they team up to crack their biggest mystery yet: how to defeat Vecna once and for all. The Duffer Brothers previously told TV Line that there will be a time jump, and confirmed to Collider that the last season will primarily be set in Hawkins and the Upside Down — no more being split between Russia, California, and Indiana. The brothers have also revealed in multiple interviews that the main focus of Season 5 will be to break down the mythology of the Upside Down, and finally provide answers to questions we've had since Season 1.

The Duffer Brothers have also been clear that they're not entirely sure what this last season will look like, but they know for sure how it will end. 

“It's like that lighthouse blinking in the distance... while a lot of Season 5 is actually pretty blurry, the last 30 minutes of it are pretty clear in our heads,” said Ross. "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."

It's been rumored that David Harbour (Hopper) knows how the series ends, a piece of gossip that hilariously infuriates co-star Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin). And speaking of Dustin — for fans who were disturbed by the boy-genius seeming to be the only member of the group mourning Eddie's death, the Duffer Brothers also noted that Eddie will be honored in the final season, and that his death will actually have "huge repercussions" for those who made it out of Season 4 alive.

Has Stranger Things Season 5 started production yet?

Though filming for Stranger Things Season 5 has not yet started, the Duffer Brothers revealed to Collider that writing for the last season commence during summer 2022. “We're going to take a little vacation in July, and then we're going to come back,” the siblings said back in July. “I know that the writer's room is going to start in that first week of August.” The Duffer Brothers stuck to their word — on August 2, the @strangerwriters Twitter account posted an update with only two words: “Day 1.” Pictured is a whiteboard with a hand-drawn Stranger Things 5 logo, and in the reflection of the white board you can make out a bunch of people seated around a table. The writer's room has officially begun, and Stranger Things 5 is currently in development.

On August 25, the writers shared a photo of another whiteboard with a storytelling grid drawn on it. There was a column for each episode in the season, one through eight. “Grid stage,” read the tweet. About a month later on September 20, the writers shared a photo of the same whiteboard, this time pixelated to the point of complete blurriness. “Grid complete," they wrote. 

But the biggest update about the fifth season so far came on November 6 — the date Will Byers vanished in 1983, which Netflix has deemed “Stranger Things Day.” In a photo posted to all of their social media platforms, the team behind the series revealed the title of the first episode of the fifth and final season. “Season 5. Chapter one. The crawl. Happy Stranger Things day,” read the caption of the post from the show's official Twitter account. Fans attempted to decode the title almost immediately, googling “what is a crawl in DND” and searching through Metallica lyrics. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what we're crawling through… and what we're crawling to.

Does Stranger Things Season 5 have a release date yet?

There is no confirmed release date for Stranger Things Season 5 yet, but have no fear, the show's creators have some great news — it will be a much shorter wait than the 3-year gap in between Seasons 3 and 4.

"The gap should be quite a bit shorter this time, due to the fact that we already have an initial outline, and we can't imagine there will be another six-month forced hiatus," the Duffer brothers said during an interview with Variety. This means that we could potentially have a confirmed release date by early-to-mid 2023. Considering the visual effects the show demands and the busy schedules of the young cast — who are currently rising stars in Hollywood — we probably won't see new episodes until 2024. But we'll gladly take two years over three!