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What does Stranger Things season 5 have in store for us?
After a fourth season that received mixed reviews, we’re hoping for both a terrifying and aesthetically-pleasing fifth season of Stranger Things. As the official trailer has just been revealed on July 16th, 2025, here’s everything we know about the new episodes scheduled for release later this year…
By Violaine Schütz,
and Jordan Bako.
Published on July 16, 2025. Updated on July 17, 2025.
Creatures, flamethrowers… What you can expect from Stranger Things season 5
Delayed by the writer’s strike that hit Hollywood in 2023, the season 5 of Stranger Things is finally taking shape. In a video released on June 1st, 2025, Netflix confirmed that the new chapter of the series is indeed in the works and is scheduled for release by the end of the year on the platform. This final season will be split into three volumes, released on three different dates. First on November 27th, then on December 26th, and finally, on January 1st for the finale.
This new installment will be set in the fall of 1987, a year after the events unfolding in season 4. The Hawkins gang will now be aged between 16 and 17. It is quite a contrast from the actors’ real ages. Indeed, Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard were 12 and 14 years old when the first episodes premiered. In 2025, they will be respectively 21 and 23. The audience will once again witness the young gang from Hawkins facing the supernatural threats haunting their small Midwestern town. Armed with baseball bats and chainsaws, backed by a flamethrower-wielding army… the squad is finally getting the grand finale it deserves with this new season. Let’s hope it ends on a happy note…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlYrNC_1XmkOverview of season 5 of the series Stranger Things.
The grand finale of the Netflix series
In that same video, Netflix also drops hints about the dangers Eleven and her friends will face. The producers of the show have revealed the titles of the episodes composing the final act of Stranger Things. The eighth and final episode of the season, titled “The Rightside Up,” is clearly a play on the final episode of the first season, entitled “The Upside Down.”
While season 5 is expected to mark the end of the series, the universe of Stranger Things still has a bright future. Indeed, this world imagined by the Duffer Brothers is expected to give birth to a stage play, an animated series, and possibly another series taking place in Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-2LIjOt0rAA first glimpse of the series Stranger Things season 5.
A colossal production
In the meantime, the previous seasons of Stranger Things are still available on Netflix. Remember, on July 1st, 2024, at 9:01 AM, the final two episodes of season 4 were released on the platform. Everyone was talking about it. But were they really worth the attention? Especially when considering their respective length of 1 hour 25 minutes and 2 hours 19 minutes?
The first seven episodes of Stranger Things season 4 – which each cost a staggering sum of $30 million and collectively ran over 9 hours – have so far not been particularly convincing. The show’s special effects, which cost more per episode than Game of Thrones, are indeed colossal, but were they enough to impress the audience?
Kate Bush brought back into the spotlight by Stranger Things season 4
In season 4, the group of youngsters, including Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) and Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), have certainly grown up. But their main concerns remain the same – teen love stories, basketball games, and a lot of mood swings. It’s actually hard to keep up with their antics. Moreover, the narrative thread is confusing and the “Upside Down” isn’t always introduced well. As much as we’re fans of Winona Ryder, her neurasthenic role in Stranger Things is far from her best. And hearing Kate Bush through the ears of actress Sadie Sink doesn’t quite move us either.
The main problem with this overly repetitive season 4 is its lack of inventiveness, emotion, and fun sequences. Riding high on its success and its sleek, sublime vintage aesthetic, Stranger Things once again leans heavily into the cult of the 1980s. With a sumptuous synth-heavy soundtrack, colorful clothes, questionable hairstyles, and overt references to Dungeons and Dragons, the formula keeps its charm but is more than a little tired now.
Moreover, the plots and dialogues in season 4 are so weak that it often feels more like Riverdale than Stranger Things. Not to mention the bad pacing, the lack of clarity in the narrative, and the strange mix of genres that take us from a political thriller remake reminiscing Russia to a 1980s teen comedy reminiscent of the cult (and silly) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).
Death and gore on the agenda for season 5
“Expect deaths and gore,” actor Noah Schnapp announced about the new seaon on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The gang of teenagers will face a new enemy, the terrifying sorcerer Vecna. But anyone who’s already seen films and series from the 1980s, such A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Alien (1979), Tales from the Crypt (1989), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Gremlins (1984), Ghostbusters (1984), or The Goonies (1985), won’t be surprised by the kind of entertainment Stranger Things season 5 has in store.
The only truly delightful find in this big-budget performance? The character of Eddie Munson (the irresistible Joseph Quinn), a funny and cool metalhead reminiscent of characters from Wayne’s World (1992) and Airheads (1994). He brings a bit of spice, freshness, and rock’n’ roll humor to a season that otherwise only scratches the surface when it comes to deep emotions.
Excessive fan service
As for the fan service – the practice of feeding fans’ passion and fantasies with unnecessary content specifically tailored for them – it kills any creative momentum or stylistic innovation. The final two episodes are technically very well done (in Stranger Things, style always precedes substance), but excessively violent and needlessly long and struggle to save the series.
It’s better to revisit 1980s masterpieces that elegantly portray the trials of adolescence than to wait for the season 5 and spin-offs of this sci-fi series already planned by Netflix. Among them are The Lost Boys (1987), Stand by Me (1986), The Breakfast Club (1985), Rumble Fish (1983), or The Outsiders (1983),
Stranger Things season 4 is available on Netflix. Stranger Things season 5 will be released on Netflix on November 27th and December 26th, 2025. The finale is scheduled for January 1st, 2026.
