After an absolutely epic battle with Vecna in the Season 4 Volume 2 finale episodes, we need a minute to breathe. What an absolutely stressful four hours!
In fact, let’s take a moment, all together now. Inhale, hold for a moment, and exhale. Okay, fab. Let’s move on.
Now that Stranger Things Season 4 has come to an end, we’re left with all a ton of questions, ranging from “where is Max’s consciousness?” all the way up to “what’s the origin of the Upside Down in the first place, and why is it frozen in time?”
The point is, all of our questions can only be answered by one thing, which is of course, Season 5.
While details on the fifth (and final) season of Stranger Things are still pretty limited — they haven’t started filming it, after all — we’ve compiled everything we possibly could about it.
From the length of the season, to a possible release date and the likelihood of a time jump, here’s absolutely everything we know so far about Stranger Things Season 5.
Is Stranger Things Season 5 Confirmed?
Thankfully, yes it is. Season 5 was confirmed in February 2022 when the Duffer brothers penned an open letter to fans which detailed a lot of the work that went into Season 4, and confirmed that Season 5 was on the way, also.
Is Stranger Things Season 5 the Final Season?
In an open letter to Stranger Things fans released back in February 2022, the Duffer brothers confirmed that Season 5 would be the final season of the series.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” they wrote. “At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.”
With that said, just because Stranger Things is coming to an end doesn’t mean it’s the last we’ll see of these characters, as there is most definitely a Stranger Things spin off in the works.
When Will Stranger Things Season 5 Be Released?
Short answer? We don’t know. Neither Netflix nor the Duffer brothers have made any official announcements regarding the Stranger Things Season 5 release date thus far, but that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate, right?
Look, fans of the series will likely already know that each season of Stranger Things has taken longer to hit screens than the previous one.
After Season 1 dropped in mid-July 2016, Season 2 didn’t arrive until late October 2017, 15 and a half months later. Then, Season 3 didn’t arrive until mid-July 2019, 20 months after Season 2. Finally, the gap between Season 3 and Season 4 was a whopping 35 months, but the COVID pandemic is partially to blame for that.
All of this is to say that it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see Season 5 hit Netflix at any time prior to, say, October or November 2023.
With that being said, we do know that the outline for Season 5 is complete, and that the Duffers are going to begin working on scripts for the series in August 2022, so perhaps it’s not as far away as we think?
“We’re going to take a little vacation in July,” Ross Duffer told Collider. “And then we’re going to come back. I know that the writer’s room is going to start in that first week of August.”
Only time will tell.
Related: Is There a ‘Stranger Things’ Spin Off In the Works?
Related: Spoiler Alert: Here’s Who Died in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 Volume 2
Will Stranger Things Season 5 Still Be Released All At Once?
Yes, it will! Unlike many other streaming platforms, which have been shifting to a more traditional weekly release schedule, Netflix has said that they’re planning to stick to their “binge model” release drops for Stranger Things.
“For the fans of Stranger Things, this is how they’ve been watching that show, and I think to change that on them would be disappointing,” said Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series for the US and Canada, per Variety. “To not give them exactly what they’ve been expecting — which is Stranger Things is a seasonal experience, they go through that with them — I think that it would be an abrupt change for the member.”
How Long Will Stranger Things Season 5 Be?
Season 4 of Stranger Things may have only been nine episodes long, but many of those episodes were super-sized. Multiple episodes clocked in at over 90 minutes, and the epic season finale was a truly cinematic experience, with a runtime of 140 minutes.
As for Season 5, the Duffer brothers are planning to scale things back a little. In an interview with Collider, they said that their aim going into Season 5 is to have the season clock in at around 10 hours total, across eight episodes.
“We thought Season 4 was going to be eight [episodes], and they were going to be regular length,” Matt said. “So if you had interviewed us before four, that’s what I would’ve said.”
He continued: “I think we’re aiming for eight again. We don’t want it to be 13 hours. We’re aiming for more like 10 hours or something. I think it’s going to be longer than Season 1 because we just have so much to wrap up, but I don’t think it’s going to be as long as Season 4.”
Ross Duffer went on to say that there won’t be as much scene-setting to do before they get to the action as they go into Season 5, because it will be a continuation of everything that happened in Season 4.
“This season, for instance, it was two hours before our characters even realised the monster was killing people in Hawkins,” Ross explained. “They know what the threat is now, and so that will help speed it up.”
Related: Stranger Things Season 4: Everything You Need to Know About Vecna
Related: We Need to Talk About Who’s Going to Die on ‘Stranger Things’
What Will Stranger Things Season 5 Be About?
While specific plot details are pretty scarce for Stranger Things Season 5, we do know that Season 5 will give us the origin story for the Upside Down, and explain why it’s stuck in time.
We also know that the Duffers have the whole season sketched out, and the final 20 minutes of the series are apparently “locked in”. Eep!
“We want to give the characters their moments and a lot of these characters have been evolving over the course of these four seasons, and so it’ll be five seasons of them,” Ross Duffer told Collider. “We want to make sure that they all land in a way that we all feel good about.”
“The last 20 minutes, they’re locked in. Like I told you, sticking the landing is so [important],” Ross added. “We do feel good about the ending,” said Matt Duffer. “I was like, okay, I think this ending is not… I’m not super insecure. I’m insecure about a lot of things, but I feel like the ending feels good.”
As for our beloved characters, the Duffers have said that we can expect things to come “full circle back to Season 1”.
“Will’s going to be a big part and focus, is really all I can say of Season 5, in his journey,” Matt told Collider. “We’re starting to see his coming of age, really. Which has been challenging for a number of reasons, some of which are supernatural. But you’re starting to see him come into his own.”
Ross Duffer chimed in, stating that Season 5 “[is] setting up us coming full circle back to Season 1”.
He explained: “I think you’ll see that with a couple of the character arcs, not just with Will. But also with Steve and Nancy, and her relationship with Jonathan where things are not fully resolved. The characters have maybe made steps, like in the case of Will, but that journey isn’t over yet. All of that is going to play a huge role as we try to wrap this thing up next season.”
Will Stranger Things Season 5 Have a Time Jump?
Given that the cast is all hitting adulthood but still depicting characters who are 14 years old, a Season 5 time jump is looking very likely. In fact, Ross Duffer has all but confirmed the news in an interview with TVLine.
“I’m sure we will do a time jump,” said Ross Duffer. “Ideally, we’d have shot [Seasons 4 and 5] back-to-back, but there was just no feasible way to do that.”
Is There a Trailer for Stranger Things Season 5?
Slow your roll, eager beaver! They haven’t begun filming Season 5 yet, so there’s no trailer just yet. Watch this space, though because we can assure you, the second there is a trailer, we’ll have it right here for you.
Where Can I Watch Stranger Things Season 5?
Presumably, Stranger Things Season 5 will be streaming on Netflix at some point in the future, but given that it’s still a way off yet, it’s really a don’t-hold-your-breath type situation for now.
Want more Stranger Things? Read all our content here, and check out the stories below.
- Spoiler Alert: Here’s Who Died in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 Volume 2
- These Films Influenced ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 — So You Can Watch Them After Volume 2
- 5 ‘Stranger Things’ Theories for Season 4, Part 2 and Beyond
- The ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 Soundtrack Is Everything You Want and More
- Stranger Things Season 4: Everything You Need to Know About Vecna
- We Need to Talk About Who’s Going to Die on ‘Stranger Things’
- Is There a ‘Stranger Things’ Spin Off In the Works?
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