Netflix turns upside down as the first four episodes of Stranger Things’ fifth and final season releases after almost three years of waiting. This season took around a year to film with production officially wrapping up near the end of 2024. It will come out in three parts; the first part came to Netflix on Nov. 26, the second will be released on Dec. 25., and the final episode will be released to Netflix and movie theaters on New Year’s Eve. Since the 2022 release of Season 4, fan theories have grown and so has anticipation, which has brought new fans to the show especially since the first release of the final season.
Early in 2025 there was little marketing for Season 5; by October, marketing ramped up through collaborations with many brands like Target, Gatorade, Nike, Chips Ahoy!, Lego, and many others. On Oct. 30, they released a short official trailer that was leaked only hours earlier, leading many fans to believe that it was leaked on purpose as a marketing strategy.
In November they released the highly anticipated first five minutes of the first episode “Chapter One: The Crawl” to celebrate “Stranger Things Day” during a live world premiere event. Later that month, a longer trailer was released. Since then, they have done many interviews and released new clips alongside other promo for Season 5 that Netflix has shared with fans.
While it may seem like the promo must be done by now, it is likely that even more will be released as the three parts come out to keep fans engaged, especially due to the positive reaction the first part received.
“Chapter One: The Crawl” brought fans back into the world of Hawkins with a time jump of 18 months. “Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler” was a fan favorite with one of the best cold opens of the whole show according to the Duffers. “Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap” shows the group working together, exploring new friendships, and managing growing conflict. “Chapter Four: Sorcerer” surprised many fans by the final twist of the episode which showed the complexity and importance of the main character Will. Out of all of the episodes in part one, “Chapter Two: The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler” and “Chapter Four: Sorcerer” were the fan favorites.
The first part of the new season has been very well received, with many fans already deeming it their favorite season. Many old and new fans have joined in watching the show while anxiously awaiting the arrival of the remaining episodes of Season 5. We’ll see how the ending of the show impacts fan opinions on this season.
