The end of Stranger Things: all the news from the Netflix show’s fifth and final season

When Stranger Things first premiered in 2016, Netflix was still courting new subscribers with splashy original projects that were meant to have broad audience appeal. The company had solidified itself as a major player in the streaming wars with massive hits like House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and a collection of live-action Marvel series. The shows were all very different, but they each felt like part of an ambitious plan to establish Netflix as the gravitational center of a new pop cultural era.

Those big, watercooler tentpole projects made Netflix feel like a platform worth subscribing to because of how large they loomed in the public consciousness. Especially in its early seasons, Stranger Things was thrilling to watch as a new sci-fi / horror series steeped in nostalgia. But it was also fascinating to see the show become a global phenomenon that dominated online discourse and inspired other studios to tell more stories set in the ’80s.

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Netflix is bringing the Stranger Things series finale to theaters. The show’s final episode will hit theaters at the same time it premieres on the streaming service on December 31st at 8PM ET. It’ll be available in more than 350 theaters across the US and Canada, and will run through January 1st, 2026.

The finale, titled “The Rightside Up,” is two hours long and marks the first time a Netflix episode premieres simultaneously on its platform and in theaters, according to Deadline. Netflix previously held screenings for Stranger Things 4: Volume 2 and gave some of its original films, like KPop Demon Hunters, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, a brief theatrical run, mainly to maintain awards eligibility.

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It’s been a long time coming, but we finally have a real look at the end of Stranger Things. Netflix just released the first teaser trailer for the show’s fifth season, which will also be its last when it starts streaming later this year. As was alluded to in the finale of season 4, the new trailer — which, despite being called a teaser, clocks in at nearly three minutes long — is focused on the major showdown with Vecna that will presumably end the string of supernatural bad luck in Hawkins, Indiana for good.

Here’s the official setup for the finale, according to Netflix:

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Stranger Things’ fifth and final season finally has a premiere date.

During its live Tudum event, Netflix announced that Stranger Things’ fifth season will actually be split into three parts. Volume 1 is set to debut on November 26th, Volume 2 premieres on December 25th, and The Finale drops on New Years Eve. Along with the premiere dates, Netflix also shared a teaser showing off some of what Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin, (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Max (Sadie Sink) are going to be up against when the show returns.

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Netflix has a busy year of premieres ahead, but it might be most notable for what’s ending. As the streaming service continues to push into a new era full of live events, reality TV, and ad sales, it’s also saying goodbye to arguably its two biggest franchises, with both Stranger Things and Squid Game wrapping up in 2025. Once upon a time, tentpole hits like those series were pivotal for Netflix — people signed up for them and often unsubscribed when they went away.

But singular blockbusters aren’t as necessary for the company’s overall success any longer. And it’s possible we might not see anything quite like those two shows again.

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