Our journey into the Upside Down began in July 2016, and now it’s confirmed that nearly a decade later, in November 2025, we’ll finally begin to close out the Stranger Things saga.
Beyond its four Netflix seasons, the creators of Stranger Things also developed a Broadway and West End play that adds to the series’ lore, providing a backstory for Henry Creel and Dr. Brenner, two of the Upside Down’s essential players.
Season 4 of Stranger Things was released in May 2022, so with a gap of over three years between seasons, it might be hard to remember what happened and what we expected to happen in the next volume. Earlier in the season, we meet Eddie, the leader of the Dungeons & Dragons Hellfire Club, whose epic guitar riff leads to him getting killed by Vecna and the Demabats. The gang discovers that Vecna is actually Henry Creel aka One, who Eleven knew and trusted from her time in the Hawkins Laboratory.
Meanwhile, Mike, Will, and Jonathan try to rescue Eleven from Dr. Brenner’s grasp. Eleven uses her powers to escape the lab and then go into a sensory deprivation tank to try to save Max after Vecna gets her under his control. Eleven saves Max from dying, but Max still ends up in a coma with Lucas wishing and hoping for her to awaken. After Joyce and Murray rescue Hopper from a Russian prison, they kill more Demagorgans to weaken Vecna. Nancy, Steve, and Robin seem to kill Vecna’s physical form in the Upside Down, but after Max shortly dies, Vecna is able to open a new portal to Hawkins from the Upside Down. And although he hasn’t been stuck in the alternate dimension for some time, Will can sense that their fight is not over. So what’s going to happen next?
Jonathan will sacrifice himself to save Will.
The Byers have had a tough go from Season 1 — Joyce is a single mother just trying to protect and care for her two sons. Jonathan is essentially the school’s outcast while Will is similarly bullied. Will finds himself trapped in the Upside Down, forever tying him to the Mind Flayer and leading him to deal with PTSD amidst coming to terms with his sexuality. Jonathan grows from being seen as a creep to becoming Nancy’s boyfriend, but always carries around a guilt that he couldn’t protect his younger brother.
It’s already been speculated that Will plays a much larger role in Season 5 than he has in the past couple of seasons, so his growth could lead to him taking charge and choosing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. In the past, he was a victim ripe for saving, but as he becomes more confident, his choice to sacrifice himself would be a perfect arc. And even better would be a full-circle moment in which Jonathan is finally able to save his brother, but not without dying himself.
Nancy’s love triangle will end with no one.
Nancy began Stranger Things as a seemingly vapid popular girl. However, after she loses her best friend, Barb, to the Mind Flayer, she becomes one of the most ruthless and ambitious leaders in the fight against the Mind Flayer. As she grows more and more preoccupied with the Upside Down, her love triangle with Jonathan and Steve falls to the waistside. She realizes early on that Steve’s machismo isn’t a good match for her, and in Season 4, her long-distance relationship with Jonathan grows even weaker as he looks at attending New York University.
It seems like either Steve or Jonathan (or both of them) will die in Season 5, but even if they don’t, Nancy’s arc is a satisfying one for Stranger Things’ feminist fans. She becomes the embodiment of the idea that women don’t need a man to be successful or worthy, which was a revolutionary idea in the ‘80s rarely seen in films or television shows. Because the majority of ‘80s projects were created by men, it was uncommon to see women as anything other than side characters, love interests, or leads in rom-coms. By leaving Nancy with no love interest and a happy ending, the Duffer Brothers would break the tropes they’re honoring in a modern and unexpected way. There’s also the possibility that Nancy could start a relationship with Robin, allowing Nancy to break out even further from her conservative good-girl archetype. But even still, a female character without a love interest would be the greatest rebellion of all.
Kali will return to help Eleven fight the Mind Flayer.
Remember Kali, Eleven’s “sister” who ran a gang in Season 2? Many Stranger Things fans hated Eleven’s sideplot with her former laboratory sister, Kali, in which they murder those who wronged or intended to wrong them. And although Kali’s appetite for vengeance scares Eleven, Season 5 will need someone with that hunger. Between saving Max and defeating the Mind Flayer once and for all, Kali’s open-ended storyline creates the opportunity for her return.
Previously killed off characters will return to defeat Vecna and the Mind Flayer.
The biggest theory circulating is that Eddie Munson isn’t actually dead, but just stuck inside the Upside Down. Because of Stranger Things’ parallels to Dungeons & Dragons, fans have theorized that Eddie could become Kas, a D&D character bitten and killed by bats, brought back to life as a vampire by Vecna who is therefore indebted to the monstrous villain. In the game, Kas uses a “sword of Kas” to kill Vecna after serving as his right-hand man. While we don’t think Eddie will defeat Vecna single-handedly, his death by Demabats is remarkably similar to Kas’s. And if Eleven could revive Max, why couldn’t Vecna revive Eddie in the Upside Down?
If Eddie does come back to help Vecna while he regains strength, the heart and loyalty of Dustin could remind him of his innate goodness. His return could also hint at the return of other previously deceased characters. Barb, Bob Newby, Billy Hargrove, and more of Hawkins’ lost souls might find a way to defeat the Mind Flayer from inside the Upside Down or Vecna’s mind.
In addition, a “deceased” character we haven’t yet met, Sara Hopper, is expected to make an appearance. Hopper lost his daughter to complications with cancer before the start of the series, which is part of why he is drawn to adopting Eleven. But after a casting call went out for Sara in 2024, it’s possible she’ll return, either in the Upside Down or as a living person whose death was a cover-up for something more nefarious.
Eleven and Max will never truly be reunited.
This is a depressing prediction, but seems apt considering Eleven and Max’s current state of affairs. Eleven “saved” Max’s body from dying, but when we leave Season 4, Max’s arms, legs, and eyes are out of commission, marking a miserable way to live. Max’s desire to live and overcome Vecna is the perfect ending to her arc of dealing with grief and understanding the purpose of life.
Eleven, on the other hand, has used her powers to get what she wants, but she now used them to unnaturally bring back Max from the dead, which could have terrible repercussions. While we don’t yet know the extent of how Eleven and Max’s stories will end, it seems likely that one of them will die for good. Either Eleven will die in her battle with Vecna, sacrificing herself once and for all in that they both need to die for Vecna to be defeated, or Eleven will need to learn to let go of Max and live with her grief.
It’s also possible that Max could have gained some powers or access to the Mind Flayer because of her brief death, and will likely be instrumental in defeating the evil in Hawkins. Even if Max and Eleven do get to say a true goodbye, whether in the Upside Down or in reality, their long-term friendship may never see the light of day. But hopefully, Max will finally go on her movie date with Lucas.
And no matter what happens in Stranger Things Season 5, we know some characters will die, some will live, and we’ll be relieved that the story has finally come to a close after nearly 10 years.
