Production on Season Five of "Stranger Things" is finally underway.
The next season of the hit Netflix series, which will be its last, was temporarily paused during the summer due to the writers and SAG-AFTRA strikes. At the time, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, the brothers and creative minds behind the sci-fi horror series, addressed the delay in filming on social media.
But now that all the deals have been finalized and Hollywood is back to work, production for Season Five has launched.
Netflix shared the exciting update with fans on X on Jan. 8. The streaming giant tweeted a black-and-white photo that featured all the beloved cast members — like Millie Bobby Brown, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and David Harbour — reunited in one room.
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"THIS IS A CODE RED," the tweet said with two siren emoji. "Stranger Things 5 production has officially begun!"
The official "Stranger Things" X account reacted to the production news in the comments, cheering, "Here we goooooo!!"
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Fans also celebrated the upcoming season in the replies. Although Netflix has not announced a premiere date, fans know that they will soon say goodbye to the “Stranger Things” universe and their favorite characters when Season Five arrives.
While viewers will undoubtedly struggle bidding farewell to characters like Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas and Max, some of the stars of the series feel ready to walk away from the show.
Joe Keery, who stars as Steve Harrington, said last year he thinks "it's time" for the show to end.
"It won’t be easy for it to end,” he told Women’s Wear Daily in an interview published Aug. 26. “I mean, I owe my whole career to being on that show and all the opportunities that I had since are because of that show.”
He describes his feelings as "convoluted."
"There’s a sense of relief, there’s a sense of sadness. I guess my goal is to just really soak it up as much as I can while we’re doing it, and not take any of it for granted because it’s been an amazing ride with such great people," Keery said.
After, he hopes to be able to "move forward" while holding on to the "joy" that he felt while making it.
"Everything has a beginning and the middle and an end. It’ll be nice to have the end of this too," he said.
Keery and fans will have to wait a little longer to see how it all ends as the cast and crew work on the final season. But, the cast and the show's creators have already revealed some details over the past year about what fans can expect.
Read on to learn everything we know so far about Season Five of “Stranger Things.”
What the “Stranger Things” cast have said about the final season
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, spoke to Women’s Wear Daily about the end of “Stranger Things.”
“I think I’m ready,” she told the outlet in an interview published on Aug. 14. “It’s been such a huge factor in part of my life, but it’s like graduating high school, it’s like senior year.”
The 19-year-old actor added, “You’re ready to go and blossom and flourish and you’re grateful for the time you’ve had, but it’s time to create your own message and live your own life.”
Brown, who started filming the series when she was 12, shared a similar comment about moving on when chatting with Seventeen the previous March.
“I’m definitely ready to wrap up,” she said.
She explained, “I feel like there’s a lot of the story that’s been told now, and we know of it, it’s been in our lives for a very long time. But I’m very ready to say goodbye to this chapter of my life and open new ones up.”
Brown said she was looking forward to working on other projects, but she was “grateful” for her breakout role.
Gaten Matarazzo, who portrays Dustin, opened up about experiencing a “deep fear” as the “Stranger Things” series finale approaches during an interview on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” last March.
Reflecting on the show’s cultural impact, Matarazzo told Jimmy Fallon, “It’s interesting to constantly just be reminded how much people have resonated with it. I mean, it’s something that’s so important to all of us and has just been essential to the growth that I’ve had over all of my teenage years into my 20s. It’s the defining aspect of the past 10 years of my life, practically the past decade.”
He agreed with Fallon describing saying goodbye as “bittersweet.” But Matarazzo said it will be exciting to learn the characters’ fates.
“But also there’s, like, a deep fear,” he continued. “Not only has it been amazing, but it’s been pretty great job security for a while. Back to freelance.”
Meanwhile, David Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper, echoed Brown’s stance that Season Five is a necessary conclusion.
He revealed during an interview with Discussing Film in February 2023 that he initially never wanted the show to end when it started.
“That’s why I love the show. I think it’s a great show, even if I wasn’t in it. Now we’re almost nine years from filming the first season, and I think it is time for it to end,” Harbour said.
The 48-year-old actor also described the situation as “bittersweet. “You know, there’s a sadness there,” he shared. “But also, we’ve all grown up. It is time for us to leave that nest and try other things and different projects.”
In May, he told Variety he already knows how Hopper’s story will end. “I know what happens and it’s quite moving, and quite beautiful,” he said.
Co-star Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike, shared a practical view of the situation when he was interviewed by Uproxx in January 2023.
He said he was “not ready” to leave the show behind but said he was curious to know how Mike’s storyline resolves.
“Also, to me, if ‘Stranger Things’ went on any longer than five, I would say it would be ridiculous,” Wolfhard said. “I think the Duffer brothers figured out, I would imagine, a perfect ending in five. We didn’t even know if we’d do two. So we’re happy that people still are around and want to watch it.”
When will Season Five premiere
Matt and Ross Duffer announced in February 2022 that “Stranger Things” would end with five seasons.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for ‘Stranger Things.’ At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four…” they said in a statement posted on X.
In November 2022, Netflix uploaded a photo of the script for Season Five, Episode 1 on Instagram, revealing the title to be “Chapter One: The Crawl.”
Fans also know that a new character will join the crew next season.
At the streaming giant’s annual Tudum event in June 2023, it was confirmed that “Terminator” franchise star Linda Hamilton will appear in Season Five. The show did not provide more details about her character.
This article first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
