A new report has provided an update for when fans can expect to see Stranger Things Season 5.
The upcoming episodes will be the final season of the hit Netflix series, finally concluding the story of Eleven and Hawkins. To make matters more exciting, Jamie Campbell Bower's Vecna, a new fan-favorite villain from Season 4, will return.
On July 15, the show creators, the Duffer Brothers, shared on social media that Season 5 had just reached the halfway mark of production.
[ Stranger Things Season 5 Cast: Every Actor & Character Expected to Appear ]
Here's Stranger Things Season 5's Release Window
Thanks to Netflix's most recent earnings call to investors, fans now have a better idea of when Season 5 of Stranger Things will release.
During the call, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed that the show will absolutely be landing in 2025, calming worries that it might be held back until 2026.
But 2025 consists of 12 months—so which month might hold the lucky debut of Stranger Things?
Well, Season 5 started filming on January 8. Production is expected to continue until the end of the year, perhaps into January 2025 at the latest.
To compare, Season 4 wrapped production in September 2021, and the finished product landed ten months later in July 2022. If that timetable remains the same, fans could see Season 5 in October or November 2025.
Netflix often takes advantage of holiday weekends by releasing their big shows on the Thursday beforehand, anticipating that its subscribers will have more time to watch during the holiday period compared to on a regular weekend.
Should Season 5 debut in Fall 2025, some of the most likely release dates for new episodes would be October 9 (the Thursday before Columbus Day weekend) or November 26 (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which Wednesday Season 1 found success with in 2022).
There’s also no telling how Netflix might choose to split up the release of Season 5 into multiple parts, which the studio will undoubtedly do since it did so with Season 4 and other recent hit series like Bridgerton, Cobra Kai, and Emily in Paris.
[ 1 Stranger Things Star Casts Doubt on Their Season 5 Return ]
What Should Fans Expect for Stranger Things Season 5?
If Season 4 was any indication, fans should expect Season 5 to be incredibly epic.
Star Maya Hawke recently teased to Fangoria that each episode will be like a movie, so audiences should get comfortable with the heftier, longer episodes that last season started putting out.
While that might be a downside in most cases, Season 4 nailed it, so one can only assume these new installments will do the same.
One big plot point the world knows about is Nell Fisher’s big role in Season 5. While Netflix hasn't technically confirmed her role, all signs point to her being a recast of Holly Wheeler.
This will happen just in time, too, as the episode titles and recent set photos suggest that the character will play a major role in Season 5.
There’s also a major question mark about Sadie Sink’s Max. She’s not dead, but it’s unclear what her next step in the Stranger Things story will be.
With Vecna coming back, many fans are also hoping that they’ll see the villain interact with Will, potentially even connecting back to his time lost in the Upside Down.
The first four seasons of Stranger Things are now streaming on Netflix.
Read more about Stranger Things here:
New Stranger Things Season 5 Set Video Gets Shared by Millie Bobby Brown
Stranger Things Season 5 - 8 Biggest Spoilers Revealed Ahead of Release
New Stranger Things Season 5 Video Shows Dustin Absolutely Terrified
