Warning spoilers for Stranger Things 4: Volume 1 and 2 Ahead.

On February 17^th, the Duffer Brothers took to Twitter to announce in an open letter, the details regarding season 4. Along with that they officially announced that there will in fact be another season, Season 5, which will be the finale. Now we don’t know whether to jump with excitement or cry over the fact that this is where it all ends, or as the Duffer brothers would say, ‘The beginning of the end’.

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What will be the cast of Season 5?

As far as the casting is concerned, thankfully most of the characters made it out of the upside down alive. However, the fate of Max Mayfield remains uncertain as the Duffer brothers revealed that she is in fact alive but is brain-dead, so her return to season 5 and her friends is a possibility but not a certainty.

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Dr. Brenner is killed at the hands of the U.S. Military after infiltrating a U.S. facility in Nevada to perform his experiments. All of this happens in front of Eleven, who decides to spare his life and deliberately leaves him on the ground injured at the mercy of the U.S. military after she finds out his truth. Hence, he won’t be seen in the next season.

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Along with the leader of Hellfire club and D&D, Eddie, who is Dustin’s really close friend. Portrayed by Joseph Quinn, who is mauled by demo-bats and dies a devastating death in season 4 after he sacrificed himself in order to save Dustin.

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As for Vecna who is also known as ‘one’ or Henry Creel, played by Jamie Campbell, Bower teased his return in season 5 during the last few minutes of season 4 in which it is clear that he is not yet dead but just injured and most definitely will wreak havoc in season 5.

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The Duffer brothers have also stated that they are attempting to avoid introducing any new characters in the new season because they are trying to focus on the original characters and their individual story lines.

The rest of the group which includes Eleven portrayed by Millie Bobby Brown, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin Henders (Gaten Matarazzo) aka, Dusty Bun, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) who is popularly known as the mother of the group, Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) and Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke). Etc. Is likely to return to continue the fight that will likely happen in the final chapter.

Recap of the previous season 4

While we still can not get over the emotional rollercoaster that the Stranger Things season 4 was, Season 5 has officially been announced. So let’s take a quick recap of season 4.

 A lot went down after the gang split into two as Joyce had to move from Hawkins and starts living in California along with Will, Jonathan and Eleven (Who is now under the care of Joyce after Hoppers supposed death/disappearance). Eleven has lost her powers and is now in a long-distance relationship with Mike, who is waiting for spring break, so he can fly to California to visit Elle. While in Hawkins, from the other half of the group, Max has distanced herself from the gang after Billy’s death and is extremely traumatised and depressed as she blames herself for Billy’s death. Lucas, while trying to fit in with the popular guys at high school, so he no longer gets bullied, gets selected as a bench warmer in basketball. He no longer makes time for Hellfire club and ends up getting involved with a group of boys who are bad news, all while still trying to get Max to open up. Dustin develops a deep friendship with the leader of Hellfire club Eddie Munson  (who is later falsely printed as the ring leader of a cult) through Dungeons & Dragons.

 The season 4 has been split into four parts in which four simultaneous adventures are being depicted, one follows the kids in Hawkins as they come up against a new creature called ‘Vecna’ from the upside down who after killing multiple teens from Hawkins, is now after Max, the second follows Mike and the group in California where they try to look for Elle who has been taken to a secret facility to help repossess her powers. Lastly, Joyce, who still believes hopper is alive, receives a cryptic message in the form of a package which leads her and Murray to the Soviet Union in search for Hopper who is being held captive in a prison camp in Kamchatka, Russia.

What You Should Be Ready for in Stranger Things Season Five?

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In July 2022, the Duffer Brothers, during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast revealed that the episodes in the finale will be shorter than the ones in Season 4 part two in which the eight episode had a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes and the ninth episode was of a whopping 2 hour 30 minutes time duration. “The only reason we don’t expect to be as long is because, typically – or this season, if you look at it, it’s almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery,” Matt explained, “You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, they’re struggling with adapting to high school and so forth. Steve’s trying to find a date, all of that. None of that is obviously going to be occurring in the first two episodes,” he further added as he talked about the upcoming Season 5.

According to Matt, as this was the first time they didn’t wrap up things at the end of season 4 and left the ending to the viewer's imagination, in season 5, the characters are already going to be in action in order to finish what had started. Fresh backstories aren’t really going to be needed, hence the new season is going to start with a bang.

 The Duffer brother revealed that they want to keep the gap between season 4 and season 5 shorter than the gap between the other seasons, which means it is likely to be released sooner than we think.

 They have also stated that “the death of Eddie and Max’s coma will have ‘major repercussions’ in season 5”.

 The Duffer Brothers in their note to the public also hinted towards a probable spin-off in regard to the world of Stranger Things. As the note states “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventure, new unexpected heroes. But first we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends”.

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For now, that’s all there is to know. In conclusion, we can’t wait to see what happens in season 5 and the anticipation towards the fate of the group is far more serious than we can put in to any words. Especially after the last scene which shows Will Byers touching his neck after getting goosebumps, indicating something.