Stranger Things season 5: Release date, cast, plot and what to expect

After waiting for three years, the end is in sight for Stranger Things fans with the release of the first trailer for season five on Wednesday.

At just under three minutes, the video – which amassed more than nine million views in 17 hours – gives fans of the Netflix hit show a glimpse of what is to come.

It opens in Hawkins, Indiana, in the autumn of 1987, when the town appears to be reeling from the aftermath of dimensional rifts and martial law under government occupation.

Scenes reveal Hawkins under military quarantine, Eleven back in hiding from an intensified government hunt, Lucas sitting by a comatose Max in the hospital and Eddie Munson’s vandalised grave, all underscored by action-packed sequences of chaos, Demogorgons, and battles involving familiar faces and new threats.

The trailer also teases powerful new abilities for Eleven, callbacks to earlier seasons with radio-wave experiments, and a brief glimpse of Linda Hamilton’s mysterious new character, alluding to larger government efforts against the Upside Down.

So if that has made you excited for season five, here’s what else to know.

When will season five be shown?

There will be eight episodes, and they will be split into three parts, it was revealed in June. Four episodes will be out on November 26, three at Christmas and the finale will be out on New Year’s Eve.

What are the episode titled?

Episode 1, The Crawl

Episode 2, The Vanishing of …

Episode 3, The Turnbow Trap

Episode 4, Sorcerer

Episode 5, Shock Jock

Episode 6, Escape from Camazotz

Episode 7, The Bridge

Episode 8, The Rightside Up

Who is in the cast?

Most of the Stranger Things cast will return, including its young stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and Noah Schnapp. The series also stars Priah Ferguson, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Jamie Campbell Bower, Winona Ryder and David Harbour.

New to the final season are Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly and Alex Breaux, along with Terminator star Linda Hamilton, who also happens to be a longtime fan of the show.

“I’ve watched every season with relish. I just love it,” Hamilton told Us Weekly in 2024. “So it’s kind of like imposter syndrome where I don’t [feel that I] fit in there. That’s a whole world set in the ’80s.”

What happened at the end of season four?

The end of season four came out in July 2022, so it’s been a while. For those who need a refresher, here’s what to remember.

At Hawkins Lab, Eleven confronts the mysterious “Peter” – later revealed to be Henry Creel, also known as Vecna – who had been manipulating events while posing as a kind orderly.

Eleven regains her powers, leading to a major showdown in which she overpowers Vecna and sends him back into the Upside Down. Meanwhile, in Hawkins, Vecna brutally attacks Max, leaving her with broken limbs and temporarily dead until Eleven psychically revives her. Max survives but is left in a coma and blind.

Elsewhere, Eddie Munson makes a heroic sacrifice by distracting Vecna’s demobats with an epic guitar solo in the Upside Down. He dies in the process, and despite his bravery, the town continues to blame him for earlier deaths.

The finale ends with Hawkins torn apart by massive, fiery fissures, evidence that Vecna has successfully begun merging the Upside Down with the real world. Dr Brenner is also killed during the chaos, leaving Eleven free but emotionally shaken. As the town reels and the group regroups, the stage is set for one final battle in season five.

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