With summer right around the corner, many new series on Netflix await. At the beginning of the summer of 2022, Netflix’s Stranger Things season four appeared on the Top 10 charts for 79 consecutive days – “that is the longest streak of any TV show ever since Netflix introduced the Top 10 list back in February 2020” [Bean]. Starting in June of 2023, the filming of season five will be taking place, and in 2024 it will likely air. Here is everything that is known so far about Stranger Things season five. 

Will This Be the Final Season?

Unfortunately, the Duffer Brothers announced on February 17th, 2022 that season five will be “the final chapter for Stranger Things” [Campano and Olson]. This groundbreaking show will come to a close next year after roughly eight years of production. With the cast growing older and the storyline wrapping up, this next season will mark the end of the show. 

How Many Episodes Will There Be?

In a tweet sent out in August 2022, the writers of Stranger Things posted an image of a grid stage, including eight episodes written on the board. Similarly, seasons one and three had eight episodes, while seasons two and four had nine episodes. Additionally, the show’s main social media account posted another tweet announcing that the first episode of season five will be titled “Chapter 1: The Crawl” [Gonazales and Puckett-Pope]. Acknowledging a few complaints in regard to the length of each episode, the Duffer Brothers announced that this next season will be “closer to the earlier seasons’ episode runtimes of about an hour or less” [Noraas]. Nevertheless, the finale, which will close out a historical and epic storyline, will last for a total of two and a half hours. 

What Will Season 5 Be About?

Based on the finale of season four, season five will mainly focus on saving Hawkins from the Upside Down. However, the writers of the show unexpectedly described season five in another tweet to be as “if season one and four had a baby and then that baby was injected with steroids.” Additionally, an article written in Netflix Tudum wrote that “cut season two content will be in Stranger Things season five.” Therefore, this upcoming season will have more content based on Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and his struggles to tackle life after the terror he faced during his time in the Upside Down, where he was completely possessed by the Mind Flayer, otherwise known as Vecna. While season five will focus on Will, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) will be portrayed by unfolding more meanings behind her past and reuniting with Kali, her ‘sister’ from her early ages in Hawkins Lab. Therefore, if Will is found to be possessed by Vecna’s curse again, it is predicted that Eleven and Kali will unite to save Hawkins from Vecna.

Who Will Die in Season 5?

In watching the previous seasons, we’ve seen some pretty impactful deaths; Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) in season four, Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) in season four, Barbara Holland (Shannon Purser) in season one, and Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) in season three. Most importantly, Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) was in a coma after experiencing severe injuries from Vecna at the end of season four. Even though Eleven brought her back to life, viewers are still unsure what will happen next to Max. Sink mentioned to Deadline that “Max’s storyline is very up in the air ‘cause, obviously, she’s in a coma, and Eleven can’t find her in the void.” 

Eventually, all good things must come to an end – even one of Netflix’s blockbuster series, Stranger Things. Will Max Mayfield end up dying in this series? Could Will Byers? Will the town of Hawkins ever be restored and saved from Vecna’s curse? How will the storyline end? There’s only one way for fans to find out in 2024!