The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is here, and it has quickly become one of the major television events of 2025. Volume one dropped on November 26th, and ratings have been record-breaking. According to mxdwn, the first volume pulled in an astonishing 59.6 million views, the largest English-language premiere in Netflix history. Only the Korean series Squid Game managed a larger audience. With two volumes still set to release, fans still have many burning questions that are dying to be answered.
Readers beware. Spoiler alert for the information below.
1. What is the nature of Will’s newfound powers?
In the final episode of Volume One, “Sorcerer,” Will attains a mysterious new power. The demagorgans poised to harm Mike, Robin, Lucas, and Joyce freeze in mid-air before their bones twist and break, mimicking Vecna’s curse from season four. Will’s powers are intertwined with Vecna’s, but do his newfound abilities go deeper than that? The Upside Down is frozen at the time of Will’s abduction. The realm that we see Vecna fall into after his first confrontation with Eleven does not appear to be the Upside Down as we know it. While Eleven touched the demogorgon and opened the gate, she had never been outside the lab, but the Upside Down is a mirror image of Hawkins. Vecna states he chose Will to remake the world due to his weakness, and now he is abducting kids who were around Will’s age at the time of season one. Could the Upside Down be more of Will’s creation than Vecna’s?
2. Why is Vecna abducting children?
Vecna’s power revolves around invading his target’s mind. He has stated that he chose Will as a child due to his weakness in both mind and body. This answers why he chose them, but not why he needs them. The children are crucial to Venca’s plan to reshape the world. Vecna views himself as the apex predator. In season four, he stated that Dr. Brenner was not the reason for his malice and that Brenner needed the likes of himself and Eleven in order to achieve his goals. The irony of Vecna needing those he considers weak to carry out his plan could backfire on him. The children could play a pivotal role in his demise.
3. Where is Dr. Owens?
At the start of season two, Dr. Owens’s (Paul Reiser) intentions were unclear. Fans had grown to mistrust anyone associated with the government following the events of season one. RIP Benny. As the series progresses, he becomes a positive albeit complex figure for the party. He nearly sacrifices his life to help Hopper, Will, Mike, and Joyce escape from the lab. RIP Bob. In seasons three and four, he is Hopper’s benevolent but often tardy contact in the government and plays the good doctor role opposite Dr. Brenner in the Nina Project. The last time he was seen, he was in the custody of Lt. Colonel Sullivan when they invaded the bunker. He seems too major a character to ignore completely, and Stranger Things is not known for dropping plot points. Will he return to help turn the tide of the battle?
4. How is Kali suppressing Eleven?
Kali, or 008, was a major figure in Eleven’s season two arc, playing a central role in one of the series’ more forgettable episodes. Although not a fan favourite character as one of the last three remaining members of Dr. Brenner’s test subjects, her return was nearly inevitable. While it is easy enough to surmise how she ended up a prisoner — targeted assassinations of government employees are not exactly inconspicuous — her ability to suppress Eleven remains unclear. In season two, she can conjure illusions, but her powers have evolved. The power system in Stranger Things has always been mysterious, but the 180 in her powers could give us some clues into the mechanisms of the world itself.
5. Who is Linda Hamilton’s character, Dr. Kay?
Stranger Things almost always has a government antagonist to play opposite the Upside Down’s supernatural threats. In season one, it was Dr. Brenner. While not explicitly evil, Dr. Owens’s government cover-up and inability to address Will’s visions hinder the characters in season two. In season three, it was an unnamed Russian super soldier, and in season four, there is Lt. Colonel Sullivan. Now there is a new authoritarian bad guy in Linda Hamilton’s Dr. Kay. With her Dr. Brenner-esque hairdo, she could even be level up to Brenner’s endlessly blind ambition for scientific progress. Her backstory is still unknown, but the next two volumes will likely reveal her and the government’s motivations.
6. Why is Vecna so scared of the cave?
In Vecna’s seemingly idyllic memory prison, Holly makes her way to a cave where she finds a brooding copper-haired transient, Max. After her near-death experience at the end of season four, Max is an unwelcome guest in a labyrinth of Vecna’s memories. After almost making her way back to the world of the living, she is discovered by Vecna and chased to a cave, which Vecna is not only unable to enter, but also is paralysed in fear at its entrance. The reason for terror at the mere sight of the cave will undoubtedly be a major discovery for the party, and Holly and Max’s arc this season will likely revolve around its secrets. Could it have something to do with Vecna’s past, or does it have deeper ties to the Upside Down or another parallel dimension? Many fans have theorised about whether Vecna or The Mind Flayer is truly in control.
7. Is Stancy or Jancy endgame?
The romantic subplots in Stranger Things have been a more lighthearted aspect of the show for fans to argue over. While the love triangle between Eleven, Will, and Mike seems to be one-sided, the Steve, Nancy, and Jonathon triangle began to reshape in season four. Steve begins the show as a cliche, but he undergoes a transformative character arc and becomes one of the series’ most beloved characters. In seasons two and three, Jonathan and Nancy appear all but destined for each other, but in season four, the cracks in their relationship begin to show. After the new and improved Steve proclaims that he is still in love with her, he and Jonathon are now embroiled in a battle for Nancy’s affections. While a betting man would likely put his money on Jonathon, Steve is not completely out of the race.
8. What is inside the Wall?
While searching for Holly in the Upside Down, Hopper and Eleven are stopped in their tracks by a massive, impenetrable wall of tentacles. All signs point to Holly being inside the confines of the boundary, but Vecna’s memory prison bears no similarity to the Upside Down. Additionally, Holly is shown in a trance state similar to Will in season one. Whatever is behind that wall is unlikely to be an exact reflection of what Holly is currently seeing. The wall is a new development in the Upside Down, and is clearly part of Vecna’s plan. Could this be the new world that Vecna intends to unleash on the main dimension?
9. Are we going to get some comic relief?
Argyle, the pot-head, pizza-dough-flipping, best friend of Jonathon during his time in California, has been noticeably absent from season five. Argyle mainly played a comic relief role, besides turning up in a key moment for an escape, and providing a freezer for Eleven’s “mind fight”. The actor confirmed that he was not asked back for season five, but this could be a misdirect. While not as pivotal a character as Dr. Owens, Argyle could show up for a brief moment to help the party, similar to Suzie and Dustin’s rendition of The Neverending Story in season three.
10. Will someone from the main cast die?
Stranger Things has steered clear of killing off any of the main cast during previous seasons. In season three, Hopper appeared to bite the bullet, but in Hollywood, if you don’t see the body, the character is due for a comeback. The current kill count has remained limited to single-season protagonists such as Bob Newey and Eddie Munson and multi-season antagonists like Billy Hargrave and Dr. Brenner. Fans have pinpointed Steve and Robin as likely deaths for this season. Steve would be a heartbreaking loss for fans, but Eddie’s death would almost seem less meaningful if they were to kill off Dustin’s other big brother character. Hopper also seems a likely candidate as the oldest and most grizzled character in the series, but The Duffers risk a double beat after the season three fake-out. The series draws heavily on eighties movies, where, more often than not, the good guys live. Fans can hold out hope that most, if not all, of the main characters will make it to the end.
Be sure to see if any of these questions are answered as the season continues with Volume Two on Christmas Day and the final episode on New Year’s Eve.