This story contains spoilers for Season Four, Volume Two of Stranger Things.
If you've found yourself back on the Stranger Things hype train after the unbridled trip that was the Season Four, Volume Two finale, then you might not want to read what we're about to drop here. In an open letter to Stranger Things fans via The Hollywood Reporter, the creators behind the series, Matt and Ross Duffer, revealed that Season Five would be its last. “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.”
Don't worry, Stranger Things heads—there's still anywhere from 80 to 120 hours of Stranger Things left, depending on how many volumes the brothers divvy Season Five up into. (That's a joke.)
Here's everything we know about Season Five of Stranger Things so far.
When Will Season Five of Stranger Things Release?
Considering that nearly three years passed between the debuts of the third and fourth seasons—which was partially due to the pandemic—you have to wonder if Stranger Things won't return until 2023. If the Duffer Brothers are planning anything remotely close to the scale of Season Four, it'll most definitely take a while to film.
What Will Happen in Season Five of Stranger Things?
What will happen? What will happen?! Surely we’re all still reeling and/or investing in a mass Kleenex order, so it feels borderline insane to start speculating how Stranger Things will meet its end.
But that’s my job. And you’re still here. So let’s do it. How about we start with the interdimensional rift that turned Hawkins into a disaster site? The war between the Upside Down and Hawkins is fully on. The final shot shows massive, hellish clouds looming above the neighborhood—and a field of flowers slowly dying. It nearly goes without saying that by opening the doorway between the Upside Down and Hawkins, the oft-terrorized Indiana town will slowly morph into the red-and-black hell our favorite kiddos have fought to destroy for the entirety of Stranger Things. TBD how long residents will be able to convince themselves that it was all just an earthquake.
Does the gang have one last fight in them? They’ll have to. Even though Vecna, you know, will be busy creating a new world order, he’ll surely seek out Eleven to get some sweet revenge. Since we’re slowly learning that the Hawkins Lab prodigies essentially have god powers—they can resurrect the dead, I guess!—she’ll most likely level herself up before the final battle. Here’s my one theory: she’ll have some help. And not the Dusty-Bun-with-a-garbage-can-lid kind.
Either Will or Max will develop powers, somehow. Maybe Will’s time in the Upside Down imbued him with abilities he’ll only uncover as he nears adulthood. And Max? After just surviving Vecna’s grasp, maybe the Duffer Bros. will write in a Harry Potter-esque, Boy Who Lived situation, where she’s scarred from the near-death experience, but has some kind of an edge against the baddie because of it. Either way, she’ll probably wake up from her coma soon enough, but Eleven will have to pull more mind tricks to make it happen. However it all goes down, Season Five will most likely pick up with our heroes struggling to put the Upside Down back in the Upside Down—or destroy it entirely.
As if you have any doubt that Vecna will return, the actor behind the monster, Jamie Campbell Bower, seemingly confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the baddie will return in the fifth season. "Let me put it this way: I know about Season Five. Take from that what you will," Campbell said. Want a good laugh? At the time, he teased how Vecna would change in Volume Two. "I think what you will see is more of the human aspect of Vecna," he said. “Let me say that much. And there’s a huge, great, cool thing—I need to keep my mouth closed!—but there’s a huge, great, cool thing you see as well!” A huge, cool, thing, man? Your character turning out to be the singular evil force behind the entirety of Stranger Things is a wee bit more than a huge, cool thing?!
Now, begin your prayer circles, so that none of your favorite characters will die at the monstrous hands of Vecna in the series finale. Brace yourselves for the horror, people.
As Esquire's entertainment editor, Langmann edits coverage of film, television, sports, and video games. During his seven years at Esquire, he's interviewed celebrities and athletes such as Matthew McConaughey, Terry Bradshaw, Steph Curry, Carrie-Anne Moss, Josh Brolin, and more. Langmann has also contributed several essays to the magazine, which range from the time he learned how to ride a bike as an adult, to the time he ingested a dangerous amount of caffeine in the name of journalism. All of that said, Esquire readers might know him best from his chaotic time recapping Westworld. He'll never forgive HBO for taking it away from him.
