Stranger Things spoiler ‘reveals’ who survives Season 5 and fans are worried

It looks like four characters are guaranteed to survive Stranger Things Season 5 – which raises worrying questions about the rest of the cast.

Season 4 had an epic, downbeat ending: with Max in a coma, Eleven and co. watched Hawkins get torn apart by an interdimensional earthquake, with their town going up in flames as they readied themselves for a final face-off with Vecna.

It’s not an exaggeration to say Season 5 is the most anticipated TV show of 2025 (if not the decade, so far). Squid Game may be Netflix’s most-viewed series, but Stranger Things arguably turned the streaming service into the household empire it is today.

There’s a lot of theories about what will happen, but a new leak seems to confirm who’ll survive the events of the fifth season.

Will, Mike, Lucas & Dustin set to survive Stranger Things Season 5

Stranger Things’ core four – Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) – will survive Season 5, according to a leaked production image.

We already knew the fifth season would have a time jump from 1986 to fall 1987, but it appears there’ll be another one, with the boys set to graduate in 1989. Other photos from the show’s Georgie set show Hawkins rebuilt and restored, so it’s easy to see why fans believe this is how it’ll end.

However, the Stranger Things Spoilers X/Twitter account also sparked concerns with its wording. “The scene reportedly involves Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and various adults,” it wrote.

In other words, what will happen to Eleven, Max, Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, and Robin?

Steve is the top candidate to get killed off in the final season. Earlier this year, a leaked photo showed Robin in a car behind an ambulance, and many have speculated that she was racing to see Steve before he dies, likely from a wound in a fight against Vecna.

Eleven and Max’s fates are harder to predict. The fact that Max survived (albeit by the skin of her teeth) Season 4 puts her in relatively safe hands; if she’s stuck in hospital for months, she probably wouldn’t be able to graduate with the boys anyway.

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However, Eleven is at serious risk. Sure, it’d be cruel to rob Hopper of his surrogate daughter, but don’t be surprised if she has to make a big sacrifice to defeat Vecna; for example, what if she has to seal the gate from within the Upside Down?

“What about El and Max I’m scared?” one user wrote. “If Max dies I’m gonna make it everyone’s problem,” another posted. “Okay but Max isn’t graduating with them because she has to catch up on all her credits since she was in a coma LISTEN,” a third commented.

“Where the f**k are Eleven and Max?” another asked. “Steve and Jonathan, stay with me,” a fifth wrote.

There’s another theory about the graduation scene. “Just a reminder here, that with Vecna being the master deceiver, every scene may as well be his illusion, even one set in the future because why not?” one fan wrote.

In other words, we can’t know for certain that anyone is safe.

Until the show returns, check out Stranger Things Season 5’s episode titles, the first look at Vecna on set, and read our list of the best TV shows of 2024.