After a long stretch of uncertainty, Netflix has confirmed that its genre heavyweight Stranger Things will be back—though fans will need to wait a little longer for Season 5.
2023 brought major disruption to Hollywood, with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes halting productions across the board. For flagship titles like Stranger Things, that meant indefinite delays. Despite early speculation that the show might return in 2024, its release has officially shifted into 2025.
The news came as part of Netflix’s Q3 earnings report, where the streamer unveiled its stacked 2025 slate. Among the most anticipated returns are Wednesday, Squid Game, and Stranger Things. “So looking into 2025, you've got new seasons of our biggest shows: Wednesday, Squid Game, Stranger Things,” the company announced. “On top of that, new shows from Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, a Knives Out sequel from Rian Johnson, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, even the return of Happy Gilmore. We couldn’t be more excited about where we’re heading.”
Fans hoping for a sneak peek at what’s to come were left speculating, as Netflix’s 2025 preview trailer featured no new footage from the sci-fi drama’s upcoming season. Instead, viewers were met with highlights from earlier seasons, prompting widespread reactions on social media.
One particularly observant fan may have gone a step further. X user Stranger Things News (@UpsideDownScoop) shared findings from a look inside Netflix’s own website code, claiming they uncovered a possible internal release date for Season 5: November 27, 2025. While this date hasn’t been verified by Netflix or the Duffer Brothers, it would fall in line with the series’ history of fall releases, often tied to “Stranger Things Day” and Halloween promotions.
Held every year on November 6, “Stranger Things Day” marks the in-universe disappearance of Will Byers in 1983. In 2023, Netflix used the celebration to give fans a first look at what Season 5 will bring, releasing a teaser that unveiled all eight episode titles.
Those titles include “The Crawl” (previously shared), “The Vanishing of…,” “The Turnbow Trap,” “Sorcerer,” “Shock Jock,” “Escape From Camazotz,” “The Bridge,” and the finale, “The Rightside Up”—a title that appears to echo Season 1’s “The Upside Down,” suggesting a return to the beginning as the series approaches its end.
The show’s fifth and final season will once again center around the core ensemble of Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), and Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), who now face off against the dark force known as Vecna/One/Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower). Familiar characters played by Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, and Sadie Sink are also set to return for the Hawkins gang’s last stand.
But before Season 5 makes its way to the streamer, fans will have another chance to return to the world of Hawkins—this time, through the stage. Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a theatrical prequel developed by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne, and Kate Trefry, opened in London’s West End at the Phoenix Theatre in late 2023.
The show explores the backstory of Henry Creel and his family during their early days in Hawkins and is now headed to Broadway. It officially opens on April 22, following a preview period that began on March 28. Ahead of the Broadway debut, Netflix is giving viewers an inside look with a new documentary, Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which arrives on the platform April 15.
“In the documentary, you can step into the Upside Down with the production team and feel the rush as they race against time to prepare the ambitious, boundary-pushing stage show for its London debut amid mounting anticipation from fans and critics,” Tudum revealed.
Meanwhile, Wednesday, the Tim Burton-directed hit that originally premiered in 2022, is also set to make its return this year. The series, starring Jenna Ortega as the titular Addams teen, broke records upon release and even managed to overtake Stranger Things as the most-watched English-language series in a single week.
Season 2 will delve further into the eerie halls of Nevermore Academy and introduce new faces, including Joanna Lumley, Haley Joel Osment, Christopher Lloyd, Thandiwe Newton, and Lady Gaga. Ortega has teased that upcoming episodes will be feature-length, adding a more cinematic quality to the new season.
With over 280 million subscribers and a slate powered by returning mega-hits like Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Squid Game, Netflix appears to be locking in its lead position in the ongoing streaming wars—beating out heavyweights like Disney+, Max, and Hulu.
Are you holding out hope for a November 27 release? And will the new documentary help tide you over until then? Join the conversation and share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
