The final chapter of Stranger Things will tackle the show’s biggest mystery yet in its highly anticipated fifth season. The new installment of Netflix’s hit sci-fi series will finally reveal the true nature of the Upside Down. It will also bring the Hawkins saga to its climactic conclusion.
Stranger Things Season 5 will reveal what Upside Down really is
In a new interview with Variety, creators Matt and Ross Duffer confirmed that the final Season of Stranger Things will answer long-standing questions about the Upside Down. Ross Duffer said, “Every Season would be like, ‘Should we talk about it?’ And we’d go, ‘No, let’s wait.’ And then finally, we’re like, ‘Well, we have to now!’” The fifth and final Season will explore the origins and nature of the dark dimension that has haunted Hawkins since 2016.
The Season begins 18 months after the Season 4 finale, with Hawkins under military quarantine following Vecna’s attack that fractured the boundary between worlds. Matt Duffer described the final eight episodes as “a complete story,” promising closure on “the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters.”
Episode 4 runs 83 minutes, and the finale lasts about two hours. The Duffers and executive producer Shawn Levy confirmed the team aimed to resolve every storyline without leaving unanswered threads.
“They did not want, and do not want, and refuse to be one of those shows that fail fans in the end,” Levy explained. Writers refined the finale through multiple drafts to maintain consistency and focus on character-driven storytelling.
Production for Season 5 began in Atlanta in July 2024, featuring Millie Bobby Brown filming Eleven’s key discovery scene. According to Matt Duffer, the series’ end will provide “resolution, but of satisfying inevitability” as Stranger Things concludes its decade-long journey.
Stranger Things Season 5 releases in three parts: November 26, December 25, and December 31, 2025.
