The Forgotten Stranger Things Characters Most Likely to Return

Stranger Things is about to start its last lap. The first four episodes of Season 5 hit Netflix on November 26, 2025, kicking off an eight-episode finale the Duffer Brothers swear is tightly sewn up and locked to one place and time.

The Duffers say the final season has 'zero plot holes' and takes place entirely in Hawkins during fall 1987.

Big claim. But it does line up with what they are doing: keeping the whole thing in Hawkins to settle old business, pay off long-dangling threads, and yes, bring back faces the show quietly shelved years ago. Two of those characters have reportedly been recast (via CBR), which tells you the writers are actively circling back to earlier seasons rather than hand-waving them away.

Quick refresher before we get into who might show up: Stranger Things comes from Matt and Ross Duffer, who also run the show. It launched four seasons ago and returns for its fifth and final run on Netflix. Core cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Gaten Matarazzo, and Noah Schnapp. The show is still a ratings darling with fans and critics: 8.6/10 on IMDb and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

10 characters Season 5 is poised to bring back (and why it matters)

• Holly Wheeler (recast to Nell Fisher) — Mike and Nancy’s kid sister has basically been set dressing for four seasons. That changes with the time jump to 1987: Holly has been recast with Nell Fisher, which screams 'we actually have plans for her.' Radio Times flagged that Episode 2 is titled 'The Vanishing of…' — and it probably points to Holly. If she goes missing, the whole fractured crew has to race back into Hawkins mode immediately. Stakes go up for the Wheelers, pace goes up for the season opener.
• Sara Hopper (new actor) — Hopper’s daughter has only existed in flashbacks as the pain that shaped him. A new young actor has been cast to play Sara in scenes that reportedly intersect with Holly’s storyline, which suggests we’re diving deeper into Hopper’s grief. The show has a habit of tying childhood illness to Hawkins Lab and the Upside Down; revisiting Sara’s cancer could reframe the lab’s history. It also mirrors Max’s coma in a way that might force Hopper to actually process what he’s been carrying since Season 1.
• Scott Clarke, aka Mr. Clarke (Randy Havens) — The science teacher who used to translate the freaky physics went missing in Season 4, but The Tab spotted Randy Havens back on set in costume with Priah Ferguson (Erica). That tracks for a final season that needs someone trustworthy to make the Upside Down’s rules intelligible without another villain monologue. It also reconnects us to the show’s early, sweeter vibe when the boys were just kids asking their teacher about parallel dimensions.
• Barbara 'Barb' Holland (Shannon Purser — in a different way) — No, Barb is not walking in the door with a latte. But a Time Magazine set visit in October 2025 described a pretty grim prop: a replica of Barb’s body wrapped in those creeping vines, complete with the distinctive neck wound and that gross Upside Down texture (as echoed by ScreenRant). That sounds like literal closure — a place for Nancy to finally lay her guilt down and for the show to acknowledge Barb’s outsize cultural footprint without cheating death.
• Kali Prasad / 008 (Linnea Berthelsen) — Kali was divisive in Season 2, then quietly sidelined in Season 4’s Rainbow Room flashbacks. A leak from MyTimeToShineH on Instagram says she’s back to help fight Vecna. Take it with a grain of salt, but narratively it makes sense: her illusion-casting is the only on-screen power we’ve seen that could plausibly scramble Vecna’s psychic killshots. Bringing her in now would also widen the lens on Brenner’s experiments beyond just Eleven and Henry.
• Teresa 'Terry' Ives (Aimee Mullins) — Eleven’s mom has been stuck in a catatonic loop since Brenner’s electroshock days. If the Duffers are promising to close every loop, this one is non-negotiable. Terry is the primary witness to the lab’s worst crimes; finishing her story would let the show lay out the full timeline and finally give Eleven a real mother-daughter moment instead of fragments.
• Becky Ives (Amy Seimetz) — Terry’s sister helped Joyce and Hopper connect the lab dots way back in Season 1, then vanished from the narrative. She’s also Eleven’s only lucid relative. Bringing Becky back would anchor Jane in an identity that isn’t just 'weaponized lab kid' — plus she could hold practical breadcrumbs like medical records or pre-lab family history.
• Lonnie Byers (Ross Partridge) — Will and Jonathan’s deadbeat dad left the picture early and hasn’t mattered since the California move. Season 5 is supposed to center Will emotionally, per the creators, and a confrontation with Lonnie would complicate Will’s path to self-acceptance in a very human, non-monster way. It’s also a clean way to show how far Joyce has come since scraping by in Season 1.
• Ms. Kelly (Regina Ting Chen) — The guidance counselor with the suspicious files on students who later became Vecna targets popped up a lot in early Season 4, then poof. If Dustin’s grieving Eddie Munson, him ending up in her office is a natural story beat. That would let the show either confirm the breadcrumbs around her or close them out properly — and those files could map out Vecna’s victim pattern.
• Victor Creel (Robert Englund) — Englund was a one-episode sledgehammer in Season 4. Now that his son Henry is the Big Bad, you could argue Victor’s story is done — but tactically, he’s not. He knows the Creel House better than anyone. Nancy and Robin are the obvious pair to go back to him with what they’ve learned. If there’s a physical weak point in that house that severs Vecna’s grip, Victor’s the guy who might know it.

Why the Hawkins-only approach matters

Keeping everything in town during fall 1987 is a smart way to force all of these threads to intersect. It means the show can actually resolve Hopper’s past, Nancy’s guilt, Eleven’s family, the lab’s crimes, and the Upside Down’s rules without cutting away to side quests. Also, for those counting: this is an eight-episode run, and the first four drop November 26, 2025 on Netflix.

Which forgotten character are you betting on to pop back up — and what do you think they unlock?