Stranger Things Season 5 Finally Reveals the Upside Down's Origin

Stranger Things is wrapping up with season 5, and yes, they are finally going to explain the big one: what the Upside Down actually is. About time.

In a new chat with Variety, co-creator Ross Duffer said the brothers always knew the last season had to tackle the Upside Down head-on. They kept pushing it off, season after season, until there was no more runway left.

"Every season would be like, 'Should we talk about it?' And we'd go, 'No, let's wait.' And then finally, we're like, 'Well, we have to now!'"

That tracks. The show's been great at vibes and monsters; now we get the answers to the why of it all.

Important note: the main series ends with season 5, but the world of Stranger Things isn't entirely done. A spin-off is cooking, though no one is saying what it actually is yet. The Duffers are being careful here. Matt made it clear they do not want to balloon the lore into an absurdly tangled knot after the finale. Ross added that whatever this spin-off becomes, it will live a bit off to the side of the core story while still staying linked to it in some way. Translation: familiar DNA, different sandbox.

On the release and runtime front, Netflix is going big again. Season 5 is split into three drops, with Volume 1 landing first, and the early episode lengths look meaty. The finale itself isn’t detailed yet, but the plan certainly reads like another extra-large sendoff.

Volume 1 runtimes

• Episode 1: 1 hour 8 minutes
• Episode 2: 54 minutes
• Episode 3: 1 hour 6 minutes
• Episode 4: 1 hour 23 minutes

Release schedule: Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1 arrives November 26. Volume 2 drops December 25, and Volume 3 follows right after on December 31. Holiday marathoning feels preordained.