Stranger Things 5: plot, cast, trailer

The highly anticipated season 5 of Stranger Things has been officially confirmed. Here we bring you all the facts and rumors about this legendary series's new episodes that have become the most viewed on Netflix, thus dethroning Money Heist.

When is Stranger Things season 5 coming out?

So, the good news of the year is that the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, will have a fifth season. The bad news is that this will be the end of this sci-fi hit. Last year, in an open letter, the Stranger Things showrunners, the Duffer brothers, announced that the fifth season would be the last. However, Matt and Ross Duffer have hinted that after the completion of the main plot of Stranger Things, a spin-off would come out. "There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things: new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes," they wrote.

Now that we've told you the main thing, let's talk about the dates. When will Stranger Things 5 come out? At the moment there is no official exact date for the premiere, but everything indicates that we will have to wait until 2024. Previously, the seasons of Stranger Things always came out with a large gap in time. From the first to the second, 15 months passed, from the second to the third, the time increased to 21 months, and between the third and fourth, it increased dramatically due to Covid pandemic by almost a full three years.

The pandemic is behind us, and now the wait for season 5 is likely to be shorter. However, we can already say for sure that the release date of the series has already been affected by the scriptwriters' strike in the United States. This strike was supported by the Duffers,  who, in solidarity with their colleagues, decided to halt production until the protest was over. In short: there is no release date yet, but it is expected to be no earlier than 2024.

Is there a trailer of Stranger Things 5?

There is no official trailer or images for Stranger Things 5 yet, but we'll update this article as soon as we have more news on the show's final season.

What will the plot be like?

The Duffer brothers have hinted that there will be a time jump after the fourth season, but this is hard to believe after watching the fourth season finale. Let's remember how the fourth season ended. After the epic battle with Vecna and the apparent victory of the protagonists, it becomes clear that evil has not been completely defeated. The first person to realize that Vecna wasn't dead was Will. The villain is seriously injured, but he is still alive, and it is only a matter of time before he strikes again. Then we see that it's snowing, but it's the snow from the Upside Down World, which has already killed the flowers in the nearby field. Here our hypothesis: in the event that we are dealing with a jump in time, the only possible plot option would be such that Vecna could still defeat and enslave humanity; this justifies that Eleven and the other characters who are part of the Resistance need time to complete the plan. Let's see...

In addition, it remains unclear what will happen to Max, who ended the fourth season in a coma. Let's not forget that Max died in the Upside Down, but Eleven brought him back. If Max regains his memory, it could be decisive in defeating Vecna. Another reason the Duffer Brothers use the time jump is none other than the maturation of the actors themselves, who went through their teens during the series. "Ideally, we'd have shot [Seasons 4 and 5] back to back, but there was just no feasible way to do that," said Ross Duffer.

The show's writers sneered on Twitter: "Season 5 is like when a baby was born in seasons 1 and 4. And then this child was injected with steroids". In other words, the horror atmosphere of the fourth season will continue, but with a heavy dose of nostalgia and, presumably, with an ending that will close the plots that have been present in the series from the very beginning.

For now, Nancy and Steve's fate is up in the air. The latter's statement could leave Jonathan on the sidelines. Eleven and Mike will be closer than ever, and who knows, maybe they will get married in the end… Well, at least for now we can dream about it.  Meanwhile, Lucas waits for Max to wake up from his coma. We'll also see if Joyce and Hopper finally meet. As for Vecna, the villain will not give any concessions to the team, and the battle in the increasingly dark and dangerous Hawkins promises to be mega epic.

How many episodes will Stranger Things 5 have?

We already know how many episodes Stranger Things 5 will have! The Stranger Things writers tweeted a photo of the schedule for the final season, which will be somewhat shorter and will consist of eight episodes marked on the chalkboard with the cryptic caption: "Grid Stage".

Who will be in the cast of the season 5?

There's no doubt that all of the Stranger Things main characters who survived at the end of the fourth season will return to appear in the fifth. So we can take for granted the return of Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), who we also see in Enola Holmes 2, Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Charles Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair) and Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman). In addition, it is likely that some secondary characters will also reappear, such as those played by Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Eduardo Franco (Argyle) or Amybeth McNulty (Vicki). However, a lot will depend on what kind of time jump the series will make, and whether they will fit.

Will there be new faces? And here is the great news! Netflix recently announced that Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) will join the cast of Season 5. It is not yet known what role she will play, but since the creators of the series do not immediately reveal all their cards. It is also worth noting that Shawn Levy, the show's producer and director of several episodes in all seasons, has already revealed that he will act as a supporting role.

And a few more words about the spin-off

And here it is officially: the spin-off of Stranger Things has been announced. It's titled The First Shadow and is set in Hawkins in 1959 and will focus on Vecna's origins. However, there is a surprise. It will not be a series, but a theatre play that will be staged eight times a week from the end of the year at London's Phoenix Theater. The creators of Stranger Things have just unveiled a short trailer confirming the release of this sequel (or prequel, rather). The teaser is an animation showing how teenager Henry Creel transforms into Vecna. As part of the announcement, it was confirmed that Stephen Daldry (The Crown) would direct the play on a script by the Duffers and Dark Materials screenwriter Jack Thorne.