Stranger Things season 5: cast, plot and everything we know

It seems that every week, Netflix is announcing a few more details about Stranger Things season 5, whether it's sharing a new behind-the-scenes photo from the set or announcing small extra details about the show.

Perhaps one of the streamer's most anticipated series, Stranger Things season 5 is the final batch of episodes for this 80s-set sci-fi horror series, which many credit with putting Netflix on the map to begin with.

After a strike-inducted hiatus Stranger Things season 5 is being shot right now and so lots of information is up in the air, but some things have been confirmed, including recently episode titles. We're still waiting on important details like a release date or trailer though.

While we wait, you can find out everything we know about Stranger Things season 5 below.

Stranger Things season 5 release date

Don't expect Stranger Things season 5 any time soon. In an interview on The Jonathan Ross show in March 2024, Eleven actress Millie Bobby Brown stated that there were nine more months' of filming left to complete, putting wrap at around December 2024. Given that the show will almost definitely require lots of post-production with all its computer-generated monsters and destruction, that means the show will likely be out towards the end of 2025.

Between seasons 2 and 3 there was a two-year gap, while three and four had a three-year gap. Judging by that release pattern, we were expecting Stranger Things season 5 to arrive in 2024 at the earliest, and a 2025 release date for season 5 shows that gap as extending even more.

The last official word from Netflix itself was in January 2025, when it confirmed that Stranger Things production had recommenced after a strike-induced delay.

Stranger Things season 4 was released in two parts, with a month between batches of episodes, so season 5 could possibly follow suit.

Stranger Things season 5 first look

While Stranger Things season 5 is still in production, we're starting to see set pictures, and you can see an example of them below.

In these pictures we can see certain long-standing members of the show as well as Nell Fisher who's apparently set to play Holly Wheeler. This character is the younger sister of Mike and Nancy and was playe dby Tinsley Price in previous seasons. Her appearance on a bike with her (on-screen) brother suggests that Holly could play a bigger part in season 5.

Stranger Things season 5 episodes

Netflix has confirmed that there will be eight episodes of Stranger Things season 5, and the full episode titles are below.

1. The Crawl
2. The Vanishing of [Netflix has redacted this last part]
3. The Turnbow Trap
4. Sorcerer
5. Shock Jock
6. Escape from Camazotz
7. The Bridge
8. The Rightside Up

For those trying to work out some of the references hidden in the titles:

Turnbow is the name of a property development company in the world of Stranger Things, which we found out about via billboards... shown only in the Upside Down.

Sorcerer is probably a reference to Dungeons and Dragons, as in past seasons, the gang has given their enemies nicknames based on D&D enemies.

Camazotz is a name from Mayan mythology as a fearsome bat spirit, so the escape could be from the Demobats that we've seen several times in the Upside Down.

The Rightside Up is, as you can probably guess, an inverse of the Upside Down.

Stranger Things season 5 cast

We're expecting the usual Stranger Things stars to all return for season 5:

• Millie Bobby Brown - Eleven
• Finn Wolfhard - Mike Wheeler
• Gaten Matarazzo - Dustin Henderson
• Caleb McLaughlin - Lucas Sinclair
• Noah Schnapp - Will Byers
• Sadie Sink - Max Mayfield
• Natalia Dyer - Nancy Wheeler
• Charlie Heaton - Jonathan Byers
• Winona Ryder - Joyce Byers
• David Harbour - Jim Hopper
• Maya Hawke - Robin Buckley
• Priah Feguson - Erica Sinclair

And at least one new face is joining: legendary actress Linda Hamilton is joining the cast, though her role is as yet unknown.

However some characters won't be returning, and not just for mortality reasons. Argyle actor Eduardo Franco confirmed in a YouTube interview that he'd never been asked to return for season 5.

Stranger Things season 5 plot

Spoilers for Stranger Things season 4 follow.

We have a better idea about the Stranger Things season 5 plot than we normally do before a new season of the show, and that's because the fourth season ended on quite the cliffhanger.

The big baddie, Vecna, managed to bring down the wall between our world and the Upside Down. Hawkins with hit by a big earthquake, killing loads of people, and unleashing some kind of terror on the town, including big glowing cracks in the ground and lightning storms. 

Now the town is in immediate peril, and our gang of heroes will need to save it and beat Vecna for good. That's not easy when most of them have been labeled by the town as satanic murderers, and linked to many of the deaths in season 4.

One of the side effects of this was that Max nearly died and fell into a coma, something she's still in at the end of season 4, and actress Sadie Sink admitted "I have no idea what is going to happen" to her character in an interview with Deadline.

While season 4 had three linked but separate stories, with some characters in Hawkins but others in Nevada and more in Siberia, the ending of the season brought everyone back to Hawkins, so we'll likely see the characters unite unlike before.

Stranger Things season 5 episodes

As of writing, we don't know how many episodes there will be of Stranger Things season 5, but we do have one piece of information, in the form of an episode title.

Stranger Things season 5 episode 1 will be called 'Chapter One: The Crawl'. As more episode titles come out, and begin to paint a picture of the season, we'll update this article.

Stranger Things season 5's strange and mysterious links to season 2

While Stranger Things has blossomed into a sci-fi epic over the course of its seasons, the fifth season will have a particular tie to the relatively-restrained second one.

Speaking to Netflix Tudum, Ross Duffer mentioned that when season 2 was commissioned, they came up with loads of ideas of elements they could bring into the story "but it was way too much", and so most couldn't be incorporated.

"For season 5, we're pulling from a lot of those big Season 2 ideas... A lot of our big ending stuff has pulled from stuff that we thought was going to be in Season 2".

Stranger Things season 2 introduced us to Max, developed Eleven's relationship with surrogate father Hopper and her understanding of her path and had our heroes fighting a smoke monster called the Mind Flayer and creepy dogs called Demodogs. In a twist that has since gone forgotten from the series, the season also introduced another girl with powers called Kali, who functioned like a sister to Eleven but only showed up for a single episode before disappearing from the show forever.

We don't know which undeveloped season 2 ideas will be brought back for season 5, and while Kali's existence does seem like a lingering question for Stranger Things, it could be any one of them.

Stranger Things season 5 plot

Stranger Things season 5 plot