- calendar_today August 25, 2025
Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 5 Brings Back Fan Favorites
After a long wait, Netflix has finally released a first-look trailer for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. The extended teaser drops online exclusively to Entertainment Weekly and sets up what’s sure to be a massive—and emotional—Season 5.
The teaser delivers everything fans were promised. We get glimpses of Hawkins’ final stand against the Upside Down, mechanical demo-dogs, flamethrowers, and perhaps most excitingly, the extended cast all back together and ready for war. Linda Hamilton, a.k.a. the Terminator, even makes a surprise appearance early in the trailer as a battle-ready Dr. Kay.
Season 4 ended with Vecna tearing through the gate, unleashing the Upside Down onto Hawkins. Season 5 will open sometime in the fall of 1987, with all of the events tied to the third anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance, the same event that kicked off the series back in Season 1.
Final season spoilers follow. The eighth and final season will be spread out into three parts, with two episodes apiece. Each episode will also be feature-length, making the final season 8 Stranger Things movies in total.
On a plot level, the description for the final season sets up a number of emotional and high-stakes storylines. Hawkins has been changed forever by the opening of the Rifts, and all of the heroes, old and new, have been pulled back together with one goal in mind: to find and kill Vecna. The only problem is, no one knows where he is, and no one knows what he’s planning. On top of all that, the U.S. government is in quarantine mode, setting up a military lockdown on Hawkins and throwing all of its resources into capturing Eleven.
As the Stranger Things timeline pushes into the fall of 1987, Hawkins is on edge with the impending anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance. Tensions are also rising as a result of the Rift’s opening and Hawkins’ battle with the Upside Down. In one line from the teaser, Joyce Byers sums up the situation rather neatly: “There’s something in the woods,” she tells her assembled allies, “and it’s worse than anything we’ve ever seen before.”
Finn Wolfhard’s Johnny, Steve Harrington, Dustin, Robin, Max, Lucas, and Eddie are all here for the final battle. Fans will also be excited to see mainstays Amybeth McNulty as Vicki and Gabriella Pizzolo as Dustin’s girlfriend Suzie reprise their roles, as well as Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna.
Two key new additions to the cast make an appearance in the teaser as well. Linda Hamilton, best known for her role in the Terminator franchise, joins the Stranger Things cast as Dr. Kay. Newcomers Nell Fisher as Holly Wheeler, Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbow, and Alex Breaux as Lt. Akers will also be playing major roles in the final battle.
The first teaser features several Easter eggs and in-jokes sure to get the die-hard fanbase pumped up. Among the highlights, the cast’s tense escape from the demo-dogs is an eerie callback to the infamous velociraptor kitchen scene from Jurassic Park, and just hearing Vecna’s gravelly “found you” is sure to give fans chills.
It also has its share of emotional moments, some of which hit a little harder than expected. The defaced gravestone for Eddie Munson (Matthew Modine), with a spray-painted “Burn in hell” scrawled on it, is a stark reminder that much of Hawkins is still unaware that Eddie died heroically in the Season 4 finale. Eddie’s death was arguably the series’ saddest since Bob Newby’s in Season 2, so Hawkins’ inability to understand that Eddie’s death was in no way his fault is likely to be a major plot point in the finale.
Netflix also announced the release schedule for the eighth season, which is likely to frustrate fans. The final season will be broken into three separate volumes. Volume 1 of Stranger Things season 5 drops November 26, 2025. Volume 2 drops on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025. The finale will air on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2025.
Season 5 is shaping up to be the ultimate Stranger Things capper, and one way or another, fans will be talking about the last chapter of Hawkins’ Upside Down saga right up until it’s over.
