Credit: ANDREW COOPER / NETFLIX
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is one of the most anticipated Netflix events of the year. After 4 brilliant seasons and countless fan theories on how the series will end, all the answers are just around the corner. Ahead of the final installment, let’s take a look at what the cast and crew have teased so far!
For the most part, much of the cast and crew have had to remain tight-lipped about the forthcoming final season of the epic show. As one of Netflix’s flagship titles, Netflix has been more tightlipped in to containing leaks and any spoilers.
Matt and Ross Duffer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 29: (L-R) Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer attend Next On Netflix 2025 Los Angeles at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on January 29, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix)
During January’s Next on Netflix event, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer weighed in on the emotional aspect of season 5. This is a show they’ve worked on for almost a decade. Watching kids grow to adulthood on set has been a pleasurable, but emotional roller coaster. “It’s our most personal story,” Matt revealed. “There was a lot of crying. There was so much crying. Everyone put their hearts and souls into it.”
They described the new season as “eight blockbuster movies,” with Ross adding that the team captured over 650 hours of raw footage. “So, needless to say, this is our biggest and most ambitious season yet,” he teased.
Despite Stranger Things reaching its conclusion with season 5, they hinted at the larger franchise continuing through a slate of planned spinoffs. “While this might be the end of the story for Mike, Hopper, Dustin, Lucas, Eleven, and the others, it’s not a goodbye for Stranger Things.”
Millie Bobby Brown
STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, and Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in STRANGER THINGS. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
Millie Bobby Brown’s portrayal of Eleven has been one of the star roles of the entire series. Brown was just 12-years-old when she filmed season 1. Now she’s 20 years old, and a Hollywood superstar. She’s spent her formative years filming Stranger Things. When filming wrapped in December 2024, she posted on Instagram, sharing an emotional sentiment with her fans and co-stars.
“I am nowhere near ready to leave you guys,” she said. “I love each and every one of you, and I’ll forever carry the memories and bonds we’ve created together as a family. I love you. Thank you.”
With that said, Brown has previously revealed that’s she’s more than ready to move on from Stranger Things to tackle other projects. “Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film and it’s preventing me from creating stories that I’m passionate about,” she previously told Glamour. “So I’m ready to say, ‘Thank you, and goodbye.'”
Noah Schnapp
Will Byer’s mysterious disappearance in season 1, episode 1 was the catalyst for all the events to come in Stranger Things. Schnapp’s character has been through more than just about anyone: he’s got an intrinsic connection to the Upside Down. And many fans theorise that he’ll be key to the show’s endgame. Schnapp hasn’t teased the show’s end quite as much as his co-stars, but in a teaser for season 5, he said: “It’s just so exciting. I think this is gonna be the best season yet!”
Finn Wolfhard
Like Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) has been involved in the show from the very start, growing up on set and growing an illustrious career from the back of it. In an interview with Deadline, Wolfhard honed in on the incredibly emotional farewell. “A lot of people grew up on that show. It was a very emotional thing to leave behind,” he said.
Having to process the idea of not falling back to Stranger Things has been a difficult one for him to manage. “I was feeling a bit depressed about it being over just because of not being able to see everyone and stuff,” he added.
However, as for what the final season has in store, he’s hyped for everyone to see it. We had a long last year. We shot sort of Lord of the Rings style with a year-long shoot. It was a great way to go out and very intense. I feel like it couldn’t have ended better,” he revealed to Variety.
Gaten Matarazzo
Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson) has hyped up season 5 by calling it one of the biggest seasons of television for a long time. The scale is about to be insane. But we knew that already, with Finn Wolfhard bravely competing it to The Lord of the Rings movies. Read Matarazzo’s full quote below, per Radio Times:
“I think [season] 5… it’s huge, of course, it’s one of the biggest seasons of television that I think we’ve seen very, very long time. And I think, a lot of people are saying it could be like a mix of [season] 1 and [season] 4 primarily. And I think that’d be a cool way of looking at it. But scale wise, it’s through the roof.”
Caleb McLaughlin
The final member of the original group of kids, before fan-favorite Max (Sadie Sink) came along in season 2, is Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair). While McLaughlin hasn’t spilled too much about the upcoming season, he recently poked fun at the agonizing wait. Let us direct you to this meme he posted on X:
Sneak peak of Season 5 👀 pic.twitter.com/Fcae8g6cQ3
— Caleb McLaughlin (@calebmclaughlin) July 30, 2024
Sadie Sink
Sadie Sink had the immense task of joining an already-established cast in the show’s second season, and she did it with ease. Her character Max made an instant impression. In season 4, however, Max as brutally beaten by Vecna leaving her in a coma. Her fate hanged in the balance — it was one of the major cliffhangers of the season.
Looking ahead to season 5, Sink has already pretty much confirmed that her character is back up and running (likely thanks to the one-year time jump). “They love having me run,” she told Variety. In the same interview, series co-creator Matt Duffer confirmed that Max plays a significant role in the final season. “She’s going to play a part in the season,” he said.
David Harbour
STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) David Harbour as Jim Hopper and Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in STRANGER THINGS. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
David Harbour’s Sheriff Hopper is a real fan-favorite. He’s been a key figure in the show from the very start. He’s very much the glue that ties everything together. Ahead of the final season, Harbour has been singing its praises more than anyone. Look no further than his recent interview with Collider, where he assures fans that they will be left satisfied with the last installment:
“I’ve said it before, but I do think the finale is spectacular. I think that it’s so satisfying if you’ve been a fan of the show. It takes a lot of threads that you may have worried about or wondered about — I’m not saying it ties them up into a nice, neat bow, but it gives you the having-eaten-a-big-meal satisfaction that you will crave. Whether that be sad or happy, we don’t know, but it will give you that. It will give you that satisfaction as a fan of the show. I don’t feel like we’re gonna disappoint.”
Winona Ryder
Joyce Byers started off as a scared mother worrying about her missing son. Her journey has been filled with trauma, but so too has she become an outspoken leader as the seasons have passed, embarking on dangerous adventures of her own.
Speaking to E! News, Ryder has revealed that the final season leaves a “bittersweet” feeling. She also can’t believe that the show has endured for as long as it has, comparing it to the longevity of her beloved film Beetlejuice:
“It is the 10th year of that, which is wild. I could never I never imagined it would, you know, it’s sort of like Beetlejuice. I don’t think any of us anticipated that show becoming what it did.”
Joe Keery
Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington started off as a dislikable teen, but evolved into one of the most lovable characters in the entire show. His relationship with Dustin in particular is such a fun dynamic. We need to protect Steve at all costs!
Recently, Keery reflected on his time on the show during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, citing all his co-stars as his family. See his full quote below:
“[It’s] just crazy, really. It was a long year. So we shot for about a year, and it was while I was working on [my music]. But to wrap it all up and the anticipation of working on something for so long — I mean, it’s been one-third of my life, really. It was emotional. … We sort of got to that last day, and it was like everything really hit on that last day of shooting. And then I stuck around and watched the other cast members wrap. It was just emotional and great, you know? Those people are family for life for me.”
Jamie Campbell Bower
Jamie Campbell Bower joined Stranger Things in season 4. He made a huge impression as Henry Creel-turned-Vecna; the omnipotent, dangerous leading denizen of the Upside Down. While he may have appeared to be defeated in season 4, the battle against him is only just beginning. In 2024, Bower spoke to iHeart Radio podcast I’ve Never Said This Before With Tommy DiDario (via The Hollywood Reporter) and teased a chaos-filled season ahead.
“If you thought last season was nuts, this season is just out of control, wild, like, it’s bonkers. It really, really is. It’s bigger. It’s just completely insane. It’s completely insane.”
While he doesn’t say much, it’s more than enough to get us hyped for the season ahead!
Linda Hamilton
Terminator star Linda Hamilton is the newest addition to the Stranger Things cast. She’s set to play a big part in the final arc, although her character is being kept a secret. Reports suggest that she’s playing a military officer, but this has not been confirmed by Netflix. As for Hamilton’s comments on the final season, she’s on record of not knowing too much about how the season actually ends.
She’s been a big fan of the show since day one. “I do get to be there for table reads and watch it unfold and be part of it. I’m thrilled to be part of it,” Hamilton told U.S. Weekly back in 2024, adding that she never saw the role coming. “But I just never, ever saw that one coming. It is different when you’re a fan of the show to sort of go, ‘Well, how do I fit?’ But we’re working on it. It’s good. It’s really good.”
Netflix has officially confirmed that Stranger Things season 5 will arrive later this year. That said, we don’t have a specific release date yet. Reports suggest a potential Thanksgiving 2025 premiere and more recently we got told that the series was eying split release between October and November is also likely. There’s no doubt that Stranger Things will have a big presence at Netflix’s annual TUDUM event, coming May 2025 — we should get some more clarity about the final season’s release then.
Are you excited for Stranger Things season 5? Do you have any theories that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!
Rating: TV-14
