What strange things do the stars return for – or not – in the final season?
By Yana Grebenyuk | Published: 2025-11-02 12:31:00 | Source: Us Weekly
Strange things Its Netflix show is wrapping up with a fifth and final season spread across three different drops — but not all cast members will be returning.
The hit series, which debuted in 2016, focuses on a fictional city where a series of supernatural events occur, causing mystery and chaos. Over the course of five seasons, Stranger Things has attracted cast members — Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Kerry – To stardom.
Ahead of the long-awaited fourth season premiere in 2022, the creators He died and Ross Dover They announced that they would end the series after another chapter in Hawkins, Indiana.
“Seven years ago, we planned a full story for Stranger Things,” they explained in an open letter in February 2022. “At the time, we expected the story to last four to five seasons. It proved too big to tell in four but — as you can see for yourselves — we are now heading towards the end. Season four will be the penultimate season, and season five will be the last.”
Later that year, the Duffer Brothers spoke about their vision for the final episodes and talked about splitting episodes for season four.
“The original plan was to release everything all at once again. But when we started delivering episodes, everyone started to feel like the season was too big to release all at once — at nearly 13 hours, it’s actually two seasons more than one.” diverse in May 2022 after the first volume dropped the first seven episodes. “Episode 7 is as big as any season finale we’ve ever seen, so it made sense for everyone involved to split the season up there. Episode 7 really serves as the end of Chapter 2 — and we feel like our final chapter has enough meat to make up Volume 2.”
Keep scrolling to see which cast members have been confirmed to return — and who won’t:
Winona Ryder
Ryder’s Joyce is featured in the trailer and stills for Season 5.
David Harbour
David Harbour
Courtesy of NetflixBefore filming the final season, Harbor teased a potential Hopper storyline in season five.
“We’re going into Season 5,” he said at the Middle East Film and Comic Book Expo in March 2023. “I’ve got a few more months to train. I’ve done a lot of training for Season 4. He (Hopper) was in a very specific situation, this Russian prison. It was about making him a different man and kind of shedding a layer of himself physically, mentally and emotionally. But now he’s back in the city, he’s back in America where they have cheeseburgers, and he’s fed up.”
Millie Bobby Brown
Brown admitted in March 2023 that she was “very ready” to move on Strange thingsBut eleven will appear.
“I’m definitely ready to wrap up. I feel like there’s a lot more story being told now,” she explained to Seventeen. “He’s been in our lives for a very long time. But I am completely ready to say goodbye to this chapter of my life and open new doors. I’m able to create stories for myself that interest me and focus on the bigger picture. “But I’m really grateful (for the offer).”
Finn Wolfhard
Wolfhard, who plays Mike, said exclusively Us Weekly That he was sad about the end of the show after it returned for season 5. He described the final season as “bittersweet and then sweet.”
Gaten Matarazzo
“There’s excitement because you always want closure and you want to see how these characters are finally going to develop one last time, how they’re going to end their journeys,” Matarazzo said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in March 2023, noting that the experience was also “bittersweet.” “But there’s also a deep fear – not only was it great, it was also pretty great job security.”
Matarazzo said he’s looking forward to Dustin’s final bow. “I think (the story) is in good hands,” he explained. “Matt and Ross know these characters better than I think they do. It’s really interesting because they trust us all so much to make our own decisions and go behind the scenes the way we instinctively always wanted to.”
Caleb McLaughlin
McLaughlin reprises his role as Lucas after Season 4 ended on a dramatic note.
Noah Schnapp
“There’s definitely going to be another focal point for Will in Season 5 and I think that’s really exciting and I’m definitely very excited to see what they have in store,” Schnapp exclusively told Us in January 2023.
He continued: “I think the story began and it started with Will, and I think ending it with him and going back to that is a nice way for them to wrap it up.”
Sadie Sink
While Season 4 ended with Cinque Max falling into a coma, photos from the set confirmed the actress’s return in some capacity.
Natalia Dyer
“I have no doubt that the bigger, scarier, more exciting plot is going to be pretty much there. That’s almost a guarantee,” Dyer told Netflix’s Tudum in July 2022 about her wishes for Season 5 before returning to the film. “But I’m really looking forward to having some of those sweet, personal moments of these people reaching out and showing that they care about each other. That’s the core of what we love to do. I think that’s part of the appeal of the show — the heart.”
Charlie Heaton
Heaton, who plays Jonathan, has been confirmed as part of the cast for season five after being with the show since its 2016 debut on Netflix.
Joe Kerry
Keery, also known as fan-favorite Steve, admitted in August 2023 that although it “feels like it’s time” to end the series, it “won’t be easy” to see everything come to an end.
“I owe my entire career to being on that show and every opportunity I’ve had since has been because of that show,” he told WWD at the time during filming. “So it’s very complicated. There’s a sense of relief, and there’s a sense of sadness. I think my goal is to absorb it as much as possible while we’re doing it, and not take any of it for granted because it’s been an amazing journey with these amazing people. And then, once it’s done, move forward and try to hold on to the joy that we had when we were doing it.”
Kerry added that “everything has a beginning, a middle and an end” so it would be “nice to have an end to (Stranger Things) too.”
Maya Hawke
After returning to play Robin, Hawke said it “started being really heartbreaking,” telling Entertainment Tonight in June 2024, “It’s the end of a really long journey. Longer for some of my castmates, even for me. So it’s really emotional. But as a late addition to a cast member, I feel like it’s my job to be here to facilitate their emotions and be grateful and excited to be a part of it at all.”
Bring a role to life. Stranger Things puts a lot of effort into making viewers feel like they’ve been transported to a fictional town in Indiana during the 1980s — which includes transforming its actors into completely different people. The series, which was shown on Netflix in 2016, revolves around supernatural events that take place in (…)
Eduardo Franco
Franco, who joined the cast in season five as Jonathan Argyle’s best friend, revealed during a January 2024 appearance on The Steve Farrelly Show that he would not be returning for the final season.
When host Steve Farley shared that fans were in a “panic” after posting a photo with Franco missing, the actor said he appreciated there was “some concern” but he “never got a phone call” about reprising the role.
“So I think, yeah, I think that’s it,” he added.
Brett Gelman
“It’s going great and it’s going to be amazing,” Gelman said exclusively. we in July 2024 about being halfway through filming the final season of the Netflix show as Murray.
Gilman reassured we Viewers will be happy with how Stranger Things ended, saying: “Fans will love it.”
Priya Ferguson
Ferguson, who plays Erica Sinclair, spoke about what the final season of the series was like Strange things It’s all about wrapping up loose story lines. She said: “I definitely want to see a conclusion to the entire series. I hope to see a conclusion at the end of season five and that the whole situation will be resolved.” we In May 2022. “I don’t want it to end in a very painful situation like previous seasons. “I want us to overcome and conquer the monster.”
Jamie Campbell Bower
In July 2024, Netflix released a video showing the cast filming the final season. Fans caught glimpses of Bauer reprising his fearsome role as Vecna.
Joseph Quinn
“No, unfortunately, rest in peace,” Matt told Empire in October 2025: “(Eddie) is right under this ground. I love that Joe Quinn manipulates people! But no, he’s dead.”
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