These Stranger Things Favorites May Not Survive Season 5
Hawkins is on borrowed time. As Stranger Things Season 5 looms, heartbreak feels inevitable and no one is safe. Expect the limits of Eleven’s power and Steve’s bat-swinging nerve to be tested in an endgame built to break us.
Stranger Things 5 is inching closer, which means it is officially time to worry about everyone we care about in Hawkins. The show has never been shy about putting people through the wringer, and the final season sounds like it is gearing up to make some brutal calls.
Case in point: Grace Van Dien, who played Chrissy Cunningham, seemed to let something slip at a fan convention in the Netherlands. She told the crowd she heard a major death is coming next season. Not exactly subtle.
'I heard someone important's gonna die.'
- Grace Van Dien, at a fan panel (per Dexerto)
And over on the cast side, David Harbour said the table read for the series finale left pretty much everyone in tears. So... yeah, prepare your emotional defenses.
'The end of this [final] episode when we were reading it — just us reading it — about halfway through, people started crying. Then about the last 20 minutes, it was just uncontrollably crying, waves of different people.'
- David Harbour, speaking to Variety
Spoiler note: I am talking freely about events from past seasons. No leaked plot points here, just informed speculation and a few eyebrow-raising hints from the people involved.
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Nancy Wheeler
Nancy has been playing chicken with Vecna since Season 4, and she keeps running toward the danger while everyone else is still processing it. There is a shot floating around of her scrubbing blood from her hands that has fans spiraling. Guilt? Premonition? Just a messy night in Hawkins? Either way, she is smart, stubborn, and constantly in the blast radius. If anyone is due to pay the price for relentless curiosity, it is Nancy. -
Jim Hopper
Hopper survived a Russian prison, so the man is practically unkillable by normal standards. But if the show is building to one last stand, his protective streak over Eleven and the kids has 'heroic sacrifice' written all over it. On the flip side, Stranger Things loves a grizzled survivor, and he has dodged death enough times to make me think he could be one of the last ones standing. Either way, whatever happens with Hopper is going to hurt. -
Joyce Byers
Joyce has always been the unstoppable mom energy that drags everyone through the worst of it, usually powered by panic, coffee, and sheer will. That exact quality makes her a prime candidate for throwing herself at the problem if it means saving Will or Eleven. Or she keeps the whole group glued together through the finale, because honestly, who else could? Expect maximum nerves and zero hesitation. -
Jonathan Byers
Jonathan is the quiet protector who backs everyone up and rarely misses a beat. His weak spot is obvious: Will. If Will is in danger, Jonathan is first into the fire. The other angle is that his grounded presence matters in the chaos, and the show might need him alive for balance. Translation: either a heartbreak waiting to happen or a last-minute save from the guy who always shows up. -
Murray Bauman
Murray is the chaos specialist: conspiracy brain, flamethrower skills, no filter. He is also exactly the kind of guy who could die hilariously and heroically in the same 10 seconds, which feels very Stranger Things. But he is also slippery and resourceful enough to skate through the final battle by doing something unorthodox and loud. Expect danger, snark, and at least one 'I told you so' before the dust settles. -
Dustin Henderson
Dustin is the heart and the hardware. After Eddie, he is carrying a lot of grief, which could put him in a reckless spot when it matters. A selfless play from him would be devastating and very in character. Do I think the show actually takes him out? Tough call. He is the emotional glue and the problem-solver. Either way, Dustin is going to be right in the middle of whatever hurts the most. -
Will Byers
Will has always been the show's nerve center, whether he likes it or not. His connection to the Upside Down is unique, and it feels like Season 5 finally cashes that check. Two paths: either the darkness tries to use him again, pushing him toward a brutal sacrifice, or that connection becomes the key to stopping Vecna for good. If Will gets a true hero moment after everything since Season 1, it will land hard. -
Eleven
Eleven is the tip of the spear. The obvious version of the ending is her sacrificing herself to shut the gate for good. But the show has also teased weirder possibilities: time-bendy traps, losing her powers at the worst possible moment, or teaming up with Kali again for a two-telekinetic showdown. Bottom line: if Eleven goes down, it is not going to be subtle. If she makes it, it is because she finds a way beyond brute force. -
Steve Harrington
Steve has been playing tank for the party since he picked up that bat. He is exactly the kind of character whose final act could be a show-stopper: saving the kids, taking the hit, and wrecking everyone at home. But he is also the series' comfort character at this point, and bumping him off risks mutiny. My read: he ends up bloodied, maybe broken, but not gone. I am prepared to be wrong and mad. -
Vecna (Henry Creel)
The boss fight. There are some spicy theories floating around: that Vecna could be wearing a new face, maybe even hitching a ride in Will again; that Nancy's Season 4 vision was more than a scare tactic and hints at him playing with future outcomes; that he has been quietly stockpiling an army in the Upside Down (Demogorgons, those nasty bats, and maybe even a nod to the Thesselhydra, for the deep-cut crowd). The creepier detail that tracks: his childhood fixation on spiders shaping the Mind Flayer into a monstrous extension of his will. In any case, this is the endgame. Either he steamrolls Hawkins one last time or the gang finally cuts the head off the beast.
Stranger Things has always blended big, messy emotions with B-movie mayhem. With cast teases about tears and a convention whisper that a major player is done for, the final run is not pulling punches. All four seasons are streaming on Netflix if you need a refresher before the panic sets in.