Stranger Things wraps final season production nearly a decade after its premiere

Stranger Things’ first season created a beautifully horrific mirror world in the Upside Down, and we’re one step closer to its end nearly a decade after the premiere.

It’s been some time since we revisited Hawkins, with Season 4 split into two sets of episodes releasing in May and July 2022. The prior season introduced the powerful villain Vecna (also known as 001 and Peter Ballard), the chief power of the Upside Down with roots in the same research facility that traumatized Eleven.

Years after the closure of Season 4, and Stranger Things finally hit a major milestone in its fifth and final season, set to premiere nearly a decade after audiences got their first mysterious glimpse of Hawkins and the Upside Down.

Stranger Things Season 5 arrives in 2025

News broke today that Stranger Things’ long-awaited fifth season has finished production, and slated to premiere sometime in Season 5. The exact premiere date and release schedule have not yet been announced, but it’s possible that the eight-episode season will follow Season 4’s release strategy and split into two groups of episodes.

Season 5 had a tumultuous production process, with production finally beginning on January 8, 2024 following the closure of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and Duffer announcing production’s halfway-mark on July 3, 2024. According to Maya Hawke, the final season’s episodes will be roughly movie length.Part of the reason for the length of production in Season 5 extends to the schedules of its busy cast, the series launching careers for stars including Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, and others.

Netflix has yet to announce any greenlit spinoffs, but both series creators the Duffer Brothers and various cast members have expressed interest in exploring the series’ world again. Their next project, Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen is also set at Netflix.