Stranger Things Season 5 finally has a release date, or should I say "dates." Netflix confirmed at Tudum 2025 this weekend that the final season of the sci-fi horror/drama will be split into three parts.
As previously confirmed, Season 5 will consist of eight episodes, with the first four dropping on November 26th. The following three episodes will release on Christmas, followed by the series finale on New Year's Eve. Each volume of episodes will be released at 5:00 p.m. PST.
Netflix had a similar approach with the show's fourth season, which saw the first seven episodes released in May 2022, while the last two came a few weeks later in July. According to the Duffer Brothers, splitting the season allowed for more post-production time to finish editing, effects, and sound.
While that may be true, there's also a marketing and business aspect to splitting the season. Not only does it keep the show trending for multiple weeks, but the fact that it's split between November, December, and January means multiple months worth of subscriptions. It also gives Netflix a major blockbuster release during the end-of-year holiday period, a crucial time when many families are off at home. The trend of splitting series into multiple batches may not be popular among consumers who prefer to binge an entire season in one weekend, but it's something we're seeing more of lately and it's something that probably won't go away anytime soon.
In addition to the release schedule, Netflix also shared the first teaser trailer for Stranger Things Season 5 and its official synopsis. We'll be getting a slight time jump as the final season will take place in the fall of 1987, almost two years after the events of Season 4.
The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.
The majority of the trailer was comprised of flashbacks from the previous seasons, but the very end does give us a glimpse into the climactic finale of the hit series.
“The last remaining questions that are answered in that document, we’ve punted a couple of those to have some big reveals in Season 5,” series co-creator Ross Duffer previously hinted, referring to the 25-page document he and Matt produced for Netflix that delves into the mythology of the mysterious Upside Down dimension. “And that’s really going to affect what Season 5 is about."
Hopefully, the fan interest is still there because it will now have been more than three years since Season 4 was released, and nearly 10 years since the show first premiered. Are you still looking forward to the conclusion of Stranger Things, or has the novelty worn off?