I don't know, I feel mixed about it," she said in an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment when asked if she hopes that Robin will get a girlfriend. In a July 2022 interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Duffers also revealed that episodes in the final season will be shorter than the movie-length ones in Stranger Things 4 — with the exception of the big finale, of course. “The only reason we don’t expect to be as long is because, typically — or this season, if you look at it, it’s almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery,” Matt explained. “You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, they’re struggling with adapting to high school and so forth. Steve’s trying to find a date, all of that. None of that is obviously going to be occurring in the first two episodes.”

In true Stranger Things fashion, there's also a possibility of some characters being killed off (RIP Barb, Bob, and Billy 🥲). According to Reddit, f ans are convinced that the fifth and final season will lead to the demise of two beloved characters: Max and Steve. Well, it’s the last season, so people are probably going to die... I’d love to die with honor, as any actor would,” she said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. “But I love the way that the Duffer Brothers love their actors. The reason that they write so beautifully for me and for everyone else is because they fall in love with their actors and their characters, and they don’t want to kill them. I think that’s a beautiful quality that they have, and I wouldn’t wish it away.” I feel like after everything Max went through, if she ever wakes up, then I think she would just flee. I think she’s gonna get out, get out of Hawkins,” Sadie said on the December 15 episode of the Variety Awards Circuitpodcast . “She’s too smart to stay there. But she’s also a very loyal friend, so who knows? It’ll be conflicting.” I will say the thing about these Duffer Brothers is that even though the show has gotten so famous and the characters have gotten so iconic and there’s so much about the ’80s and the supernatural and the genre, it’s about these people, it’s about these characters,” Levy added. “Season five is already so clearly taking care of these stories of the characters because that’s always been the lifeblood of Stranger Things.”Maya Hawke, the actress who plays Robin, revealed that she has 'mixed' feelings about her character having a girlfriend in season five. I feel like that's both a great thing, and I also love characters where their love life is not the center of their existence," she continued. "And that friendship with Steve is so special, and friendships have been carrying me through my life. I think they're really important and they deserve their airtime."

Eleven's death would be a sad conclusion to the acclaimed series, but Stranger Things has followed the characters through their childhood, it must naturally end for the characters to go into adulthood. With the coming-of-age themes of the show, it would make sense for some of the groups' growing pains to involve learning to live without Eleven. While El the lovable "weirdo" changed their lives, not all changes are permanent, Eleven may eventually just represent a fond memory of their adventures as children.Since Finn was born in December 2002, that means he's currently 20 years old and he won't be 21 until the end of 2024. This also means that Stranger Things 5 may potentially be released at the end of 2025, according to Finn's statement.

In a fan edit posted on TikTok, Sadie is seen with her new short hair while playing the guitar. The post's caption reads, "the hair 🤤💯 ST5 spoiler??" Others took to the comments section, writing, "Have you seen that Sadie Sink has a new hairstyle?? If she cut off her hair, does that mean she won’t be in season 5? after all, they can’t change their hairstyle. Max won’t be alive?" During the Middle East Film & Comic Con in Abu Dhabi, David Harbour revealed that season 5 was slated to begin filming in June 2023.

Everyone else is likely to continue the fight in the final chapter — Max is in a coma in the last episode, but the possibility of her waking up is not overwhelmingly positive. Sadie Sink, the actress who plays Max, revealed in a June 27 interview with The Hollywood Reporterthat she has no intel on her character ’s story line in season 5. In a February 2023 interview with GQ, Finn Wolfhard hinted that the fifth and final season of the beloved sci-fi series likely won't hit Netflix until 2025. "I can't believe it's already season 5, I will be 22 by the time it comes out, I think, and I started working on the show at 12. That is insane," the actor said. "I’ll be able to drink with Gaten [Matarazzo], Caleb [McLaughlin] and Noah [Schnapp] and the whole cast at the premiere of Stranger Things 5. [You] couldn’t have said the same thing at the season 1 premiere, which blows my mind."

In a January 23, 2023 interview with Us Weekly, Noah Schnapp opened up about his character, Will's journey with his sexuality and being in love with his best friend, Mike. "I think it's beautifully written," Noah Schnapp told the publication while promoting his company, TBH. "They've had this vision for a long time, which you can tell even from season 1 how they wrote it with his character and how he was bullied and being called a fairy and all the way up from season 1 up until now. They've had this story line kind of in the works and I think their vision has been working really well." For those worrying that the series might move to a weekly release on Netflix, fear not. On June 7, 2022, Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada, confirmed to Varietythat the final season will follow suit with previous iterations, and will be released all at once. What will Stranger Things 5 be about? Dr. Brenner is shot multiple times by the U.S. military after they infiltrated the secret lab in Nevada, seemingly dying in front of Eleven’s eyes. So, we most likely won’t see him again. But, what’s to come of his lab partner, Dr. Owens? It turns out that Paul Reiser, the actor behind the character, is also unsure. Although we hate to remind you once more, the devastating death of Eddie likely means that Joseph Quinn, who portrays the metalhead, will not return for the final season. BRB, going to mend my broken heart. But, Joseph did reveal in a recent interview that a cameo is not totally out of the question. Consider our fingers crossed.It's unclear whether Sadie's short hair plays into the plot of the upcoming season, but there's a chance it could tie in with the time jump to make her character, Max, appear older. Sadie Sink received her flowers for her emotional performance as Max in Stranger Things 4, and she opened up about leaving the beloved series and starting a new chapter. On January 4, 2023, the actress appeared on The Today Showto promote her movie The Whale but revealed that she doesn't know much about the fifth and final season of her hit Netflix show. "We know that it's happening and that it's the last season, so it's going to be emotional I'm sure," Sadie said. "Spoiler-free, just with the way my character ended in season 4, I have no idea what is going to happen. But I'll be there." Ross continued, dishing on the thought process behind including new characters: “Whenever we introduce a new character, we want to make sure that they’re going to be an integral part of the narrative,” he began. “But every time we do that, we’re nervous because you go, ‘We’ve got a great cast of characters here and actors, and any moment we’re spending with a new character, we’re taking away time from one of the other actors.’ So we’re just very, very careful about who we’re introducing.” Is there a release date for Stranger Things 5? In an August 2022 interview, the Duffer Brothers said they were trying not to add a lot of new faces to the series. "We're doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5," Matt Duffer told IndieWire. "We’re trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters, I guess."