The wait for the final chapter of Stranger Things is nearly over, and Netflix has just cranked up the excitement with a teaser and a confirmed premiere date for Season 5, unveiled at its Tudum 2025 event on June 1, 2025. The beloved sci-fi horror series, created by the Duffer Brothers, will kick off its fifth and final season on November 26, 2025, with a unique three-part release: Volume 1 drops on November 26, Volume 2 on Christmas Day, and the series finale on New Year’s Eve, all at 5 p.m. PST. This split-season approach, a first for the show with three volumes, has fans buzzing about what’s in store for Hawkins, Indiana, as the gang faces Vecna one last time.
The teaser, introduced by stars Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, and Caleb McLaughlin at Tudum, is a moody montage of behind-the-scenes glimpses and cryptic shots of Hawkins under siege. We see Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) looking spooked in Steve Harrington’s (Joe Keery) BMW, Lucas Sinclair (McLaughlin) suited up, and Vecna’s eerie presence looming large. The clip, paired with a haunting score, sets the stage for a story set in the fall of 1987, where “Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna,” according to the official synopsis. But Vecna’s vanished, his plans a mystery, and the town’s under military quarantine, with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) forced back into hiding as the government hunts her down.
The eight-episode season boasts a stacked returning cast: Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair, Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman, Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler, Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna, and Amybeth McNulty as Vickie. Newcomers include Linda Hamilton in a mysterious role, plus Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux. The Duffer Brothers have teased a focus on the “OG characters,” with Matt Duffer telling IndieWire, “We’re doing our best to resist adding new characters for Season 5,” to keep the spotlight on the core group.
The episode titles, revealed on Stranger Things Day 2024, are already sparking theories: “The Crawl,” “The Vanishing of _____” (a nod to Season 1’s “The Vanishing of Will Byers”), “The Turnbow Trap,” “Sorcerer,” “Shock Jock,” “Escape From Camazotz,” “The Bridge,” and the finale, “The Rightside Up,” a bookend to Season 1’s “The Upside Down.” The redacted title for Episode 2 has fans guessing who might disappear next. Ross Duffer told Tudum that a 25-page mythology document from Season 1 will finally answer lingering questions about the Upside Down, promising “big reveals” that tie the series together.
Filming wrapped in December 2024 after a year-long shoot delayed by the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, with over 650 hours of footage captured, per Ross Duffer. “There was a lot of crying,” Matt Duffer said of the emotional wrap, noting the show’s decade-long journey. Maya Hawke called the episodes “basically eight movies” on Podcrushed, hinting at their cinematic scale, while Noah Schnapp warned fans to brace for a “devastating” finale that’ll leave “not a dry eye.” The three-part release—four episodes on November 26, three on December 25, and the finale on December 31—mirrors the split strategy of Season 4 but takes it further, likely to accommodate the season’s massive scope and extensive visual effects.
While some fans have mixed feelings about the three-volume split, with a few griping online about the wait between parts, the Duffer Brothers and Netflix are banking on the staggered release to build anticipation. The teaser’s glimpses of Hawkins High overrun with Vecna’s vines and the gang’s tense reunion suggest an epic, emotional sendoff. With new directors like Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) joining the team, and a spinoff already in the works, Stranger Things is set to close its main story with a bang. Grab your Eggos and get ready—Hawkins’ final battle is about to go down.