Even for a show that introduced a whole alternate dimension during its first season, “Stranger Things” has gone to a lot of places. More importantly, its world — which started out as a charming collection of 1980s sci-fi movie homages — has continued to grow, to the point that “Stranger Things” season 4 was inspired by a “Star Wars” film as opposed to charming small town sci-fi adventures of the Amblin variety. However, a story can go only so far before it has to end, both because season 4 raised the show’s stakes to an all-time high and because the actors playing the younger characters have started to age out of their roles on a “Dawson’s Creek” level. (Joe Keery, who plays the show’s 19-year-old heartthrob Steve Harrington, turned 33 this year.)

With “Stranger Things” season 5, the Duffer Brothers’ spectacle of a show is entering its endgame. Its increasingly elaborate plot arcs and VFX have led to increasingly lengthy production cycles, with a three-year wait between seasons 3 and 4. History has repeated with season 5, as season 4 dropped all the way back in the summer of 2022. Fortunately, the first season 5 teaser is finally here, courtesy of Netflix’s TUDUM event on May 31. 

The teaser finally reveals that “Stranger Things” season 5 will hit Netflix in three chunks:

• Volume 1 will release November 26, 2025
• Volume 2 will release December 25, 2025
• The series finale will release December 31, 2025

By necessity, the central focus of “Stranger Things” season 5 is to deal with the mess the ending of season 2, volume 2 left Hawkins in. Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has finally managed to cross his monstrous Upside Down dimension over to the real world, which is bad news for everyone else. However, “Stranger Things” is, by its very essence, a story of plucky underdogs fighting against insurmountable supernatural odds, and this is exactly what fans can expect to happen in the final fight for Hawkins’ (and the world’s) very soul. Because of this, the Duffer Brothers have opted to eschew the earlier seasons’ numerous detours in order to keep the season 5 action in good old Hawkins, Indiana.

While we know where the final season takes place, the teaser doesn’t help with the big question looming over season 5: Is this the end of the “Stranger Things” universe? Regardless of whether Vecna or the protagonists win, it’s highly unlikely. Finn Wolfhard (who plays Mike Wheeler) already accidentally guessed the Duffer Brothers’ secret “Stranger Things” spin-off plan, so at least some part of this world will likely survive the season 5 confrontations. Here’s hoping that said part somehow manages to involve the dearly departed season 4 standout Eddie Munson, provided that actor Joseph Quinn isn’t too busy playing the Human Torch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.