It's already been confirmed that Stranger Things season 5 will open on a season 1 flashback of Noah Schnapp's Will Byers. But that's not the only reason the first few episodes will feel "very different" to previous chapters, according to the Duffer Brothers.
"Normally, at the end of the previous season, they've defeated whatever evil, and so we start with them going about their normal lives when something comes in, and that sets off our mystery," Ross Duffer revealed in the latest issue of SFX magazine. "But in this case, they lost at the end of season 4, and so when we find them, they're training and preparing and searching for Vecna. They're active from the beginning, so it allows things to get off to a much quicker start than ever before.”
Essentially, Stranger Things 5 will be giving Avengers: Endgame early doors, as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and the rest of the gang regroup and pick themselves up after their failed face-off with Thanos-style big bad Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). If you cast your minds back to the Stranger Things season 4 ending in May 2022, you'll remember that Eddie Munson died, Max wound up blinded and comatose, and the mutated Henry Creel unleashed the Upside Down on Hawkins...
"Scarred by the opening of the Rifts, our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished – his whereabouts and plans unknown, As the anniversary of Will's disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread," reads the official season 5 synopsis. "The final battle is looming – and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they've faced before. To end this nightmare, they'll need everyone – the full party – standing together, one last time."
"I think it's a great opening, how you get right to the action," Lucas Sinclair actor Caleb McLaughlin added. "For the viewers, it'll be refreshing and intense. A lot of people, everyone who's been waiting for the new season, they're going to really, really enjoy it."
Stranger Things season 5 premieres on November 26, with Volume 2 arriving on Christmas Day and the finale dropping on December 31. For more, check out our picks of the best Netflix shows for some viewing inspiration.
