Stranger Things Season 5: Is Will Ready to Speak His Truth? Noah Schnapp Teases a Game-Changing Turn

Stranger Things is heading into its last lap with a plan that is both very on brand and a little wild, and the cast and creators are finally saying the quiet parts out loud about where it all lands. Here is what is actually happening with Will, the release rollout, and the spin-offs Netflix is already cooking.

Will Byers finally gets to say the thing

Noah Schnapp says Will Byers is the emotional center of Season 5, and the arc that started in Season 1 finally pays off. The final season leans into Will figuring himself out, accepting it, and actually saying it. Schnapp put it simply:

"I feel particularly satisfied with how you know it all closes up. Will learns to finally find his voice, and learns that it's OK to be just who you are, and that's kind of one of the core themes of our show."

Schnapp has already confirmed that Will is gay and that his feelings for Mike (Finn Wolfhard) are romantic. If you remember the Season 4 van scene where Will poured his heart out while pretending to talk about Eleven, that was the tell. Ross Duffer has also said Will is the key to Season 5 and that his storyline is designed to pull all the show’s threads together.

The release plan is... three drops and a theatrical finale

Yes, they are chopping the final season into three parts and, yes, the series finale is going to movie theaters. Barring any last-minute shuffles, the plan is:

• Season 5 releases in three parts starting November 26, 2025 (Volume 1).
• Volume 2 arrives December 25, 2025.
• A two-hour series finale hits theaters December 31, 2025.
• Show stats: created by the Duffer Brothers; streamer is Netflix; seasons: 5; IMDb: 8.6/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 92%.

If that last bit sounds unusual for a Netflix series, it is. It’s a flexy way to turn the ending into an event. One note: you might see a stray mention of November 26, 2026 floating around. That contradicts the three-part 2025 rollout and looks like a typo. The 2025 dates line up with the rest of what the team has said and with filming wrapping earlier this year.

Spin-offs: new faces, new stories, same vibe (mostly)

The Duffers are building a Stranger Things spin-off that does not follow the Hawkins crew and doesn’t just move the same formula to a new town. Think fresh characters and a clean-slate anthology approach that keeps the show’s adventure/sci-fi DNA without piling on a messy wall of lore. They’ve said Season 5 closes the book on the Demogorgon/Mind Flayer/Vecna/Upside Down saga and the core cast; the spin-off is a new chapter, not a stretch of the old one. There will be a thread back to the original, but not a homework assignment of mythology.

On the animation side, Netflix also announced Stranger Things: Tales from '85 at the Annecy Festival in June 2025. It’s set in winter 1985 between Seasons 2 and 3, introduces a new character named Nikki alongside familiar faces, and is slated for 2026.

Joe Keery on saying goodbye to Steve (and the show that built his career)

Joe Keery, who turned Steve Harrington from Season 1 jerk into the party’s designated babysitter and a fan favorite, says wrapping the show was emotional and weirdly whiplash-y: everyone wanted to finish, and then suddenly didn’t want it to be over. As he put it:

"Everyone was looking forward to being done, but then once you get to the finish line, you look back and think, 'Oh, man, can I just have one more?'"

He also talked about the end of filming on late night back in January 2025, calling it a long, intense year and noting that this show has been a third of his life. He’s said before that, yeah, it feels like it’s time, even if letting go isn’t easy. Hard to argue, considering Stranger Things basically launched his entire career.

Bottom line: Season 5 is built to close the loop on Will, put a bow on the Upside Down era, and then hand the brand off to new stories. If you’ve been waiting for the show to deal with what it’s been hinting at since the pilot, it sounds like they heard you.