Stranger Things New Season

Netflix recently announced that the fifth and final season of the hit series “Stranger Things” will begin its release on Thanksgiving Day. The show, which will comprise of eight episodes in total, will be released over the course of a month, finishing just before the beginning of 2026. 

Volume one, featuring episodes 1-4, is set to release on November 26th. Volume two, containing episodes 5-7, will be released on December 25th, with the finale, episode 8, closing out both the year and the series on December 31st. 

Episodes 1-4 are expected to have a run time of around an hour long, while the remaining episodes are expected to be 2 hours each. The titles of the episodes were released on November 6th, 2024, the same day that was deemed “Stranger Things Day.” 

 “Ever since it came out, I have sat down and watched every episode of Stranger Things with my family. It was the first show we watched together, and I love that we get to spend that time together,” NHS senior Olivia Gulalo said.

This season's cast is full of familiar faces such as Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, Millie Bobby Brown Bongiovi as Eleven and Joe Keery as Steve Harrington. Newcomers Nell Fisher, Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux also are said to have joined the cast.

 "I hope [Stranger Things] lives on and becomes one of those things that people will rewatch and never get tired of, like a classic film,” Lucas Sinclair actor Caleb McLaughlin said.

Season 5 will pick up 18 months after the events of season four, which took place in March of 1986. Set in late 1987, the new season will follow its regular characters of Eleven, Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max through their fight with Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, and the Upside Down.

 The official renewal announcement for a fifth season was released on February 17th, 2022, in a letter to fans from Matt and Ross Duffer. Filming began on January 8th, 2024, and wrapped 11 months later on December 20th, 2025. 

Despite production delays caused by industry strikes, the season’s production has been.described as having a large budget of around $450 million. Each episode is described as having had a budget of $50-$60 million.

“We want to spend as much money as possible to realize the vision of what’s on the page, and this season is no different,” Matt Duffer said.

On September 8th, 2024, the Duffer brothers as well as the cast met in the green room on Stage 16 to do one last read through of the season five finale. 

“The events that happen in that script, they pay off a lot of things that we started in the first season. The series begins with kids in a basement, and when we leave the series, they’ve grown up. The passage of time is just very moving in and of itself,” David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, said.

After nine years and five seasons, the Stranger Things universe is coming to a close. While there are many possibilities for spin-offs, there is no doubt the series will leave an impact in the world of Hollywood. All the way from “The Upside Down”, to “The Right Side Up”, Stranger Things has become Netflix’s most-watched series of all time. 

While we wait for the new season to release, you can catch the first five minutes of season five episode one on Youtube now.