Friday, 13:00 by Karzal

Stranger Things reveals first-look photos for the fifth and final season

Netflix hit Stranger Things is ready to say goodbye to its fans in a big way.

Since its debut in July 2016, the science fiction series has become a global phenomenon. Initially, the series garnered attention primarily thanks to actress Winona Ryder, even though the young cast members—including Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard—were barely teenagers at the time.

©The Hollywood Reporter - Netflix

Over the years, Stranger Things has broken multiple records: season four broke the Nielsen record for most-watched series in a single week, with over 7 billion minutes watched, and became the most-streamed series of that year.

Creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer had already sketched out the story at the start of the series. In February 2022, they wrote in an open letter that they had always planned to tell the story over four or five seasons. Ultimately, the story proved too vast for just four seasons, but season five marks the definitive end of the series.

In season four, it was revealed that all the previous enemies the Hawkins team faced could be traced back to one ultimate villain: Henry Creel, also known as "001" or Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower. This revelation marked a crucial turning point in the story.

However, the final episodes were delayed. Season five was originally scheduled to begin production in the summer of 2023, but the writers' and actors' strikes caused a delay. Filming finally began on January 8, 2024, and wrapped on December 20, 2024. The final season is scheduled for release in late 2025 and will be released in three installments.

With the end of Stranger Things, a chapter that shaped not only Netflix but also pop culture over the past decade comes to an end.

Check out the first-look photos from the final season below.