It all started with a Dungeons & Dragons campaign; four kids in a basement in Hawkins, Indiana, who soon found themselves battling supernatural evils in their real lives, and in a mysterious realm known as the Upside Down. From those beginnings, the story of Stranger Things has grown exponentially – broadening into an entire mythology of monsters, malls, and mates facing it all together. Now, it’s all about to end: Stranger Things 5 will close the Dungeon Master’s Guide for good, pitting Mike, Eleven, Will, Dustin, Lucas and friends against Vecna and his hordes one last time.
For its creators, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, it’s time to go all-in, leave nothing on the table. “Now we’re in the final season, we don’t have to hold anything back,” Matt tells Empire in our world-exclusive Stranger Things 5 issue. “We didn’t want to tie everything into a perfect bow, but I think we answer most questions and resolve every arc,” promises Ross. “It was our intention to write a definitive ending to this story.” Expect bigger, bolder (and yes, stranger) things in these eight episodes. “When we pitched it to Netflix, we genuinely thought the scale was going to be about on par with Season 4,” grins Matt. “But, uh… that turned out to be a lie.” The brothers tease massive battles that will “evoke the same feeling” as Game Of Thrones’ Battle Of The Bastards. “Episode 4 and Episode 8 are just monsters,” Matt beams. That fourth instalment is ‘Sorcerer’, described by the duo as “the most logistically insane shoot of our lives.”
Stranger Things 5 marks the end of an era, too, for its young cast, who have grown up alongside their characters. “The morning I walked in on my last day, I immediately started crying,” says Eleven herself, Millie Bobby Brown. Finn Wolfhard says it’s “definitely emotional” to be saying goodbye to Mike Wheeler. “It probably won’t feel final for a while,” he admits. Gaten Matarazzo, aka Dustin Henderson, is still “getting used to it all being over”, he says, while Will Byers actor Noah Schnapp is thankful for the family created by working on a show for 10 years. “What’s sad isn’t leaving the attention and the hype. It’s those real relationships that we’ve formed through working on it for so long,” he says. “Those relationships are very meaningful.” For Caleb McLaughlin, it’s “bittersweet” to bid farewell to Lucas. “I’m not really that upset. I’m just happy that I experienced it,” he says. “It’s like gold, it’s so rare.”
The end may be nigh – apocalyptically so, for the residents of Hawkins – but get ready for one hell of a final campaign.
Read Empire’s full Stranger Things 5 cover story – going to the Duffer brothers’ HQ to get the inside scoop on the final season, and speaking to Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Jamie Campbell Bower and more for a new oral history of the show – in the December 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 23 October. Pre-order a copy online here. Stranger Things 5 comes to Netflix from 27 November.