Having confirmed that the fifth season of Stranger Things will be the show’s last, details on the final instalment of Netflix’s hit sci-fi show have been thin on the ground, aside from a promise from show creators Matt and Ross Duffer that the last outing would deliver new mysteries, adventures and unexpected heroes.

Due to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) going on strike this summer, many films and TV shows are now facing disruption in their production and scheduling. And season five of Stranger Things is one of many TV shows that is now delayed until the disputes in Hollywood are resolved.

Of the delay, the Duffer brothers shared on Twitter in May: “Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work.”

With theories churning about what the fifth season has in store after the last episodes left fans on a major cliffhanger about the fate of both Hawkins and Max as a character, the Duffer brothers have previously teased some intriguing details about what can be expected from the final run.

During an interview with Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast in July 2022, the creative duo shared what fans can expect from the last season of Stranger Things, including that it’ll have shorter episodes than the fourth season.

“For the first time ever, we don’t wrap things up at the end of [season] 4, so it’s going to be moving. I don’t know that it’s going to be going 100 miles an hour at the start of 5, but it’s going to be moving pretty fast. Characters are already going to be in action. They’re already going to have a goal and a drive, and I think that’s going to carve out at least a couple hours and make this season feel really different.”

The Duffer brothers also confirmed that season five will be set entirely in Hawkins following the globe-trotting adventures that spanned California and Russia in season four.

“We wanna go back to a lot of the things we did in season one,” Matt said. “A lot of the original groupings and pairings that we had in season one – there’s something nice about coming full circle.”

We also caught a glimpse of the title of season five’s first episode back in November 2022 during Netflix’s Stranger Things day. ‘The Crawl’ will be our first look into the world of the Upside Down, with the Duffer brothers also revealing that season five will dive into the origins of the Upside Down:

“The only thing we don’t delve into in [season 4] volume 2 is Upside Down lore. We hint at it. I’m sure someone on Reddit will be able to maybe piece it together, but a lot of those answers for the Upside Down or that is really what the basis of season 5 is about.”

An official cast list hasn’t been released just yet, however some of our favourites are likely to return including Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield).

Other characters who will likely return for the final season are Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers and Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley.

And there will be a few new faces too. The Terminator actor Linda Hamilton is the first new addition to be confirmed for the season five cast, even though her role remains unknown for now.

There’s still no official release date for the series, even though there are rumours it could be slated for a 2024 release. Production on the show was originally planned for May 2023, however, with the ongoing strikes in Hollywood, the show has been delayed indefinitely.

This story was originally published on 3 August 2022 and has been updated.

Words: Shahed Ezaydi; Christobel Hastings; Josie Hickey 

Images: Netflix