Stranger Things 5: How To Watch The Final Season And The Next Chapter Will Be Released

Three years on from our last visit to Hawkins, Indiana, it’s time to return for a final time. Stranger Things Season 5 is being streamed on Netflix over the holidays – but as always it’s not quite that simple. There are eight episodes in total but they’re being shown in three blocks – one already available (which went live over Thanksgiving), another on Boxing Day and the finale for New Year 2026.

The first four episodes of the new season are now available. Expect a lot of answers, big reveals and some finality.

Netflix’s synopsis of the season is as follows: “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. 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.”

When is the rest of Stranger Things S5 available on Netflix?

Here are the dates and times you need – while the times are in the evening in the US, there are going to be some sleepy people at holiday lunchtimes in Europe!

Episodes 5 – 7 – December 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM PT, 8:00 PM ET and 1:00 AM GMT, 2:00 AM CET (Dec 26)
Episode 8 – December 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM PT, 8:00 PM ET and 1:00 AM GMT, 2:00 AM CET (Jan 1, 2026)

The finale is set to also be shown in over 350 theaters in the US and UK at the same time the show is streamed on Netflix.

What are the episodes/chapters called and how long are they?

The chapters all have different runtimes – we only know the runtimes for he first few episodes at present. The finale is rumored to be around two hours in duration.

Chapter One: The Crawl – 1 hour 8 minutes
Chapter Two: The Vanishing of… – 54 minutes
Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap – 1 hour 6 minutes
Chapter Four: Sorcerer – 1 hour 23 minutes
Chapter Five: Shock Jock
Chapter Six: Escape from Camazotz
Chapter Seven: The Bridge
Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up

Is there a Stranger Things season five trailer?

There certainly is:

There’s also a trailer specifically for Volume 1, too.

Who’s in season five?

Netflix put out the following cast list: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).