One Stranger Things 5 character will finally visit the Upside Down in the second half of the season. The Netflix sci-fi series is in the midst of airing its fifth and final season, and the stakes are as high as possible as the Hawkins crew attempts to put a stop to Vecna's evil plans. One of the core locations in Stranger Things has been the spooky alternate dimension, dubbed the Upside Down, which is accessible in Hawkins, but not every character has had the chance to visit it firsthand.
That is changing for Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) in Season 5 of Stranger Things. The new trailer for Vol. 2 of Season 5 of the Netflix series features shots of Mike seemingly within the dark alternate dimension, marking the first time the middle Wheeler child has set foot in the Upside Down.
One scene shows Mike looking up to the sky, where a bolt of red light illuminates his face. The appearance of red lightning is commonly associated with being in the Upside Down, where the dark hellscape is frequently lit by bouts of scarlet electricity from the clouds.
A second scene seems to show Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), who is confirmed to be stuck in the Upside Down with Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve, as of Season 5 Vol. 1, embracing a friend. While it's difficult to make out the person's face, the height and hairstyle match that of Mike, suggesting he'll be reunited with Dustin in the Upside Down in Season 5.
As one of the Stranger Things' central protagonists, Mike has been closely involved with the mysteries of the Upside Down since the show began. However, unlike his friends Will (who was kidnapped and brought to the Upside Down in Season 1), Dustin (who visited in Stranger Things 4), and Eleven (who has frequented the alternate dimension), Mike has never had the chance to enter the Upside Down himself, often relegated to helping his friends from the other side.
The closest Mike has come to a brush with the Upside Down is in Season 2 of Stranger Things. During this season, a series of tunnels emerged from the existence of the Mothergate in Hawkins Lab. These tunnels were accessible from Hawkins, but they filtered through elements of the Upside Down, such as the dimension's signature dust particles and the autonomous vines linked to the Mind Flayer's hive mind.
To break Will free from the Mind Flayer's control, Mike joined his friends and ventured into the tunnels to create a distraction, which allowed him to experience a portion of the alternate dimension. However, he remains one of the few characters who has yet to set foot in the proper Upside Down.
Along with Mike, Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) has yet to enter the Upside Down, although, similarly to Mike, he experienced the tunnels in Season 2. Lucas' sister Erica Sinclair (Priah Ferguson), an adjacent character to the group's core party, also hasn't set foot in the Upside Down. However, she is aware of its existence, and similarly, Murray (Brett Gelman), a former journalist and friend to Joyce and Hopper, has yet to make his way to the other side.
Stranger Things 5 is created by the Duffer Brothers for Netflix, with Millie Bobbie Brown, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, and Natalia Dyer as some of the major cast members. Season 5 Vol. 1 of Stranger Things premiered on November 26, with Vol 2. set for release on Christmas Day and the final Stranger Things episode premiering on New Year's Eve.
Things Are Turning Upside Down for Mike in Stranger Things 5
With Mike finally headed to the Upside Down in Stranger Things 5, the question that is no doubt on many minds is: what brings him there?
Things are looking grim for the core party heading into the final batch of episodes, with Vecna successful in kidnapping several Hawkins children for his nefarious plans (including Mike's sister Holly). Several of the group, including Dustin, Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, Eleven, and Hopper, are all stuck in the Upside Down.
With all hell on the verge of breaking loose in Stranger Things 5, it seems like the team may need to stand united in the Upside Down to finally defeat Vecna. This would, naturally, give Mike a reason to follow his friends and family into the Upside Down, particularly since he is one of the group's leaders.
Mike has often been designated the unofficial leader of the core Stranger Things party. He was the Dungeon Master for his friends during their D&D game, and he's usually been instrumental in the group's strategies and plans. In the Season 4 finale, Mike was able to give Eleven the strength she needed to defeat Vecna, guiding her from the other side, but in Season 5, it seems he may need to go one step further and provide that support from within the Upside Down.
As Will tells Mike in Season 4, he's "the heart" of the group, which makes him a necessity heading into the team's final stand in the Upside Down.
