‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Gets Several Major Updates As Filming Begins To Wind Down

Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Momentum is building for Stranger Things Season 5 as we approach 2025. Over the past few days, a few snippets of information and some new assets have been released. Let’s recap all the major developments, including the exciting announcement that a significant character will be returning for the final season, set to debut in 2025.

There’s lots to cover, but we should mention if you missed the last major update for the show, which came back in November when we got confirmation of the official episode titles for all of season 5. 

Updates in the Netflix UI for Season 5 Reveals New Art and New Tease

Over the past few days, the Netflix page for Stranger Things has been updated, and the show is now permanently sitting in the “Worth the Wait” section of Netflix’s New & Popular category. It comes with some new logos and artwork (see embedded below) in addition to a new supplementary message stating, “Return to Hawkins for the final season in 2025.”

Pictures: Netflix

Filming Updates 

Now for the spoiler warning again! The next few paragraphs will feature potential spoilers about the next season courtesy of the filming updates over the past few days. If you want to go into season 5 cold and completely free of plot points, skip this section to the final part. 

The show has now entered the 47th week of filming, with cameras expected to continue rolling for at least another two weeks ahead of the Christmas holidays. Last week, multiple pictures surfaced, including some from Jason Collins, who stated that the high street in Jackson, Georgia, was being converted for upcoming filming. 

Stranger Things going on in Jackson Georgia. They are erecting a monument and bringing back the hawk theater. Not to mention all the other locations. #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/sUsrwM0cDs

— JasonCollins (@journeywjasonc) November 25, 2024

A new update from our friends at Stranger Things Spoilers suggests that this week, we’re getting one of the final scenes filmed featuring a time jump to the Spring of 1989 with Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and various adults reportedly attending graduation. This graduation is confirmed by another surfaced picture (posted by Tate100T on X). It suggests the show will be ending in 1989 (the season begins in the Fall of 1987), with a poster hung up that says, “Congratulations! Seniors of Hawkins High—Class of 1989.”

Back In Hawkins! #StrangerThings5 #Hawkinshighschool pic.twitter.com/xSnoy1gf5w

— tate.brookins (@Tate100T) November 27, 2024

We won’t post anymore here, but there are plenty of behind-the-scenes set photos and videos out there if you look hard enough, but again, some will be very spoiler-heavy. One account that seems to be on top of filming more than most is Christopher Oquendo.

Finally, Ross Duffer posted another picture yesterday with the caption, “I could fix him ❤️(just nerding out over our incredible ST5 VFX team!!)”

Matthew Modine Is Coming Back!?

Is Papa returning? Matthew Modine, best known for playing Papa, met his untimely demise in season 4, but maybe he’s coming back? Yesterday, the actor posted an old video on Instagram (it was first released several years ago) with the hashtags “#strangerthings5 #bts #drmartinbrenner #papa”. Earlier this year, Modine avoided the question somewhat brilliantly about whether he’d be returning although the Duffers implied in 2022 that he would be back in flashback form. Modine also previously suggested his character wasn’t entirely done in a Vulture interview back in 2022. He set up a string of questions for the interviewer, suggesting that more answers could be had. “Three things are curious to me: How did he [Brenner] survive the Demogorgon? How did he survive One? And when Eleven tries to use her power against Dr. Brenner after blowing three guards in the air, he unflinchingly thwarts her and says, ‘You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?’ She couldn’t get it to work on him. Is there something more to Brenner than meets the eye?”

Everything Else… 

• Small update for the animated series – we believe the show has been going under the working title of Project Mirkwood (this refers to the nickname given to the road that goes past the Hawkins National Laboratory) and better yet, we’re led to believe it’s been given a two-season order upfront. 
• There has been much confusion in recent days about Stranger Things’s age rating. The show is now listed as TV-MA, but as we dug into yesterday, that’s not entirely surprising, as it’s been switching to and from that rating from TV-14 since 2022. However, the recent change does coincide with all the new assets listed above. 
• Netflix released its holiday gift guide this week. Stranger Things has received several mentions, including collaborations with Pandora, Clarks, Funko, Thunder Bay Books, Squishmallow, and other items available on the Netflix Shop.
• We’re just a week away from Stranger Things VR releasing on multiple platforms. 

• Finally, you may have missed it, but in December, Netflix is shutting down its mobile game, Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales. 

There is no word on when Netflix will release anything official regarding season 5. The last major updates came during Stranger Things Day, and we’re hearing that some surprises are being planned for the NFL Games on Netflix for Christmas Day (similar to how the first looks were released in the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight). Don’t forget that Geeked Week and Netflix TUDUM will return in 2025. 

We’re due a big update on our main Stranger Things season 5 preview in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, let us know in the comments if you’re hyped for the next and final season of Stranger Things in the comments.