Stranger Things 4 only just dropped, but we're already craving more. Given the events of season 4, we can expect the fifth season of the sci-fi series to be the most epic yet. Here's every bit of information we have about Stranger Things 5 so far.
The first thing is first, is Stranger Things 5 even happening?
Series creators the Duffer Brothers confirmed in a letter to fans in February that Stranger Things would be getting a season 5, but that the fifth season would be the show's last.
https://twitter.com/Stranger_Things/status/1494341147833122820?
There's no release date set for Stranger Things 5 just yet.
The Duffer Brothers told Collider that the writer's room will begin for the next season in August, which means things are still very early in the cycle.
The brothers told Variety that they hope the gap between seasons will be shorter this time.
"But the gap should be quite a bit shorter this time, due to the fact that we already have an initial outline, and we can't imagine there will be another six-month forced hiatus."
Given Stranger Things' long shooting and post-production schedules, optimistically maybe we might see the show back on screens in 2024.
Spoilers for Stranger Things 4 ahead.
When we left our friends in Stranger Things 4 the outlook wasn't good.
After a season spread far and wide, the entire group was back together by the end of season 4, only to find their worst nightmares realised.
The gang did their best to put a stop to Vecna in the Upside Down, but even with Eleven's help, he still managed to enact his plan of opening a rift to the Upside Down in the middle of Hawkins. Vecna also took down poor Max in the process who is now stuck in a coma with four broken limbs.
Where on Earth do things go from there?
In interviews since the fourth season's airing, the Duffer Brothers have said that things will pick up straight away in season 5. They also told Josh Horowitz that they expect the series finale to be at least two hours long.
In the same interview, the brothers confirmed that season 5 of Stranger Things will be set all within Hawkins, rather than following another sprawling interconnected narrative like season 4.
"We wanna go back to a lot of the things we did in Season 1. A lot of the original groupings and pairings that we had in Season 1, there's something nice about coming full circle," Matt Duffer said.
The Duffers also confirmed to TV Line that there will most likely be a time jump in the final season to help the series' timeline match up with the actor's ages.
There's no word yet on whether Stranger Things 5 will follow the same split volume release model as season 4.
The cast for season 5 hasn't been officially announced, but we can expect the surviving members of season 4 to return.
That includes Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Noah Schnapp (Will), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Winona Ryder (Joyce), David Harbour (Hopper), Natalie Dyer (Nancy), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan), Joe Keery (Steve), Maya Hawke (Robin) and Priah Ferguson (Erica).
Less certain is the return of Sadie Sink, whose character Max is still in limbo in a coma, but Jamie Campbell Bower's Vecna seemingly escaped in the season 4 finale so expect him back in some shape or form.
If you want to catch up (or just rewatch repeatedly) the previous seasons of Stranger Things you can find them all over on Netflix.
There are 34 episodes available to watch so far which, by my calculations, you can binge in about 35 hours.
If you're looking for some other shows to watch while you wait for Stranger Things 5, we have pulled together some suggestions for you.