Credit: NetflixThe first volume of Stranger Things Season 5 has finally landed on Netflix after years of waiting. Last week, fans around the world were glued to their television screens watching the first four episodes of the last-ever season of the hit streaming series.
Stranger Things emerged on Netflix in 2016, introducing Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, who together uncover a terrifying truth about their home town, and a government agency with shady agendas.
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Has Revealed 3 Characters Likely to Die in Season 5
Stranger Things Isn’t Going Anywhere
The series became an overnight success, spawning subsequent seasons and an entire multimedia franchise that includes video games, comic books, merchandise, and even a West End/Broadway stage play titled Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Now, after several delays, largely due to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the first of three parts of the fifth and final season has arrived, and fans are not disappointed. But don’t worry — as those first four episodes only premiered last week on November 26, we won’t get into any spoilers. Although we can confirm that Season 5 isn’t the end of Stranger Things.
If you’ve been keeping your finger on the pulse of all things Stranger Things lately, then you’ll have heard of the upcoming animated series Tales From ’85, which will take place between the events of seasons 2 and 3, following Eleven, Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max Mayfield as they encounter terrifying new monsters from the Upside Down.
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ May Have Revealed Season 5’s Monster
New Stranger Things Spinoffs
Tales From ’85 is scheduled to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2026, but we’re getting another spinoff long before that arrives.
A new novel titled “Stranger Things: One Way or Another” is set for release this week, on December 2, before even the next batch of Season 5 episodes premiere (December 25, followed by the finale on December 31). From writer Caitlin Schneider, “One Way or Another” is hardly the first literary addition to the franchise, as it follows the likes of “Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds” and “Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus”.
However, it is the first to star Nancy Wheeler (who’s played by Natalia Dyer in the Netflix series), in an all-new mystery adventure that takes place between seasons 4 and 5, placing the two characters directly in the aftermath of Vecna’s earthquake, which tore their Hawkins down the middle.
“Following the events of Stranger Things: Season 4, Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley are hot on the heels of a new mystery – and they won’t stop until they solve it,” the official synopsis from Penguin Books reads.
“Hawkins, Indiana, is in recovery. It’s been two months since Vecna’s earthquake tore through the town, and its residents are still reeling from the devastation. Nancy Wheeler has spent every waking minute on the hunt for Vecna, but he’s continued to elude her. How can she head to Emerson for college in the fall if Hawkins is still under the influence of the Upside Down?”
“When fellow classmate Joey Taft starts acting shifty at graduation, Nancy is convinced Vecna’s found his newest victim. Joined by fellow amateur sleuth Robin Buckley, Nancy doesn’t waste any time questioning Joey. What the girls discover leads them down the path of a bigger story than The Hawkins Post could ever have assigned Nancy. Why are people around town suddenly getting sick? Why is there a strange man tailing Nancy as she investigates? And, most important, does this even have anything to do with the Upside Down? Together with Robin, Nancy embarks on a dangerous quest for the truth. The deeper the two dig, the further Nancy finds herself drawn into a web of intrigue that threatens to trap her in Hawkins… forever.”
Watch the official trailer for Season 5 Volume 1 below:
Where Can I Watch Stranger Things?
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 4 and the first four episodes of Season 5 (Volume 1) are now streaming on Netflix.
Stranger Things also stars Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Bob Newby (Sean Astin), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Paul Reiser (Dr. Sam Owens), Matthew Modine (Papa/Martin Brenner), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/One/Henry Creel/Mr. Whatsit).
Are you excited about all the new Stranger Things content? What are your predictions for the finale? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!