Details about the Stranger Things Season 5 plot has been skinny for probably the most half, as Netflix and The Duffer Brothers have sprinkled only some particulars concerning the story for the present’s last season. Thankfully, the 2025 Netflix Tudum occasion has revealed fairly a bit extra about what to anticipate as Vecna and the Upside Down breaks by to the actual world. This consists of details about a skip ahead in the timeline, what’s occurred to Hawkins, and new enemies that our heroes will face. Right here’s a breakdown of what we all know up to now concerning the upcoming Stranger Things 5 story. (Warning! Spoilers for Stranger Things Seasons 1 to 4.)
What we all know concerning the Stranger Things Season 5 story
Generally, the Stranger Things Season 5 story will revolve across the heroes trying to destroy Vecna as soon as and for all, whereas the city of Hawkins is beneath a navy quarantine as a consequence of a number of Rifts opening from the Upside Down.
First off, as famous by the official synopsis of the fifth season from Netflix, the story will start in the “fall of 1987.” It ought to be famous that the Season 4 finale ends on Saturday, March 29, 1986, which means that Season 5 will begin roughly one and a half years later. As a result of Max technically died for just a few seconds, which was the ultimate set off for the final gate to open between Hawkins and the Upside Down, plumes of smoke and spores have descended upon the city. Eleven and her allies watch on a hill of flowers the devastation that has been wrought on their hometown, with the media reporting this as a 7.4-magnitude earthquake and many residents already having fled.
Again in a 2022 interview with Collider, The Duffer Brothers revealed that Stranger Things Season 5 will happen primarily in Hawkins with occasional go to to the Upside Down. That implies that we don’t want to fret about Eleven needing to be rescued from a facility in Nevada or Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers having to take care of a gate opening in Russia. As a substitute, it appears to be like like the youngsters (now youngsters), the youngsters (now younger adults), and the dad and mom will have the ability to coordinate their plans in opposition to Vecna, who was “wounded” on the finish of Season 4 after taking a number of shotgun blasts and molotov cocktails.
The emphasis on Hawkins is an element of a bigger idea of getting the Season 5 plot come “full circle” with Season 1, which is one thing Matt and Ross Duffer mentioned they wished to do throughout a Happy Sad Confused podcast. The group pairings from the unique season can be kind of introduced collectively once more with Eleven reuniting with the boys (Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin), the older teenagers becoming a member of forces (Steve, Robin, Jonathan, and Nancy), and the dad and mom possible being spearheaded by Joyce and Jim. The connection between Nancy and Jonathan has not been resolved both, in order that can be one thing that can be explored too. (I’m cautiously optimistic that science trainer and A.V. Membership head Scott Clarke will reappear in Season 5.)
The official synopsis discloses that the federal government chargeable for the quarantine are additionally making an attempt to seize Eleven, which as “compelled her again into hiding.” With President Ronald Reagan declaring Hawkins as a federal catastrophe space, the US navy, the Indiana Nationwide Guard, and FEMA have been deployed to Hawkins by the top of Season 4. There’ll possible be extra federal companies concerned between then and the start of Season 5. The latest date announcement trailer revealed the discharge schedule and footage of quite a few troopers surrounding a ground tile with a brilliant pink glow obtrusive beneath it.
In the meantime, the whereabouts of Vecna (who has possible healed over the course of a yr and a half) is unknown. His plans are additionally unclear after he was profitable in bringing the Upside Down by the 4 gates. That mentioned, the synopsis says that the anniversary of Will’s disappearance is approaching, creating a way of dread and referencing his psychic connection to Vecna. The showrunners have mentioned that Will can be “an enormous half and focus” of Season 5, which is not any shock since if anybody can discover Vecna, will probably be him.
As well as, the Duffer Brothers promise that among the mysteries surrounding the Upside Down will lastly be unraveled in Season 5. Hopefully, this consists of the origin of the place this realm comes from, whether or not Eddie was changed into a monster, and if the three-headed pink dragon in Will’s portray can be greater than only a drawing.
