Screenshot courtesy of Netflix/YouTube
Nell Fisher, Alex Breaux and Jake Connelly join the final season of Netflix’s blockbuster series
This is the beginning of the end for “Stranger Things”.
Netflix released a first look at the fifth and final season of its blockbuster sci-fi adventure series on Monday, along with a behind-the-scenes video from the set, revealing three new actors joining the show: Nell Fisher (“Evil” Dead Rise”), Alex Brooks (“Waco: The Aftermath”). and newcomer Jake Connelly.
The video, narrated by several key actors, comes from Atlanta-based soundstages, and while “Stranger Things” Season 5 has been filming for most of 2024, much of the season has yet to be filmed — Caleb McLaughlin says in a voiceover that they’re halfway through production. While the video diligently avoids revealing anything about the plot for Season 5, there are still some intriguing, eye-rolling moments.
There’s a scene of the core group of friends — Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Kates Materazzo), Lucas (McLaughlin) and Will (Noah Schnapp) — huddled around a radio, followed by a shot of the foursome joined by Joyce (Winona). Ryder), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Steve (Joe Keery) gather around the overhead projector. These characters were separated for most of Season 4, so it’s a relief to see them all working together again. Dustin also appears to be wearing a Hellfire Club T-shirt, indicating that he is keeping alive the spirit of the club’s estranged leader, Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn).
Oddly, there is no footage of Millie Bobby Brown with the rest of the cast, but Brown mentions that she ran the show for 10 years of her life.
Elsewhere, there are several scenes that appear upside down, as well as some mysterious red tendrils where a member of the group uses drips. Jamie Campbell Bower – who plays Vegna, the series’ central villain Henry Creel – says “Season 4 was big” but “Season 5 definitely feels bigger”. And Linda Hamilton (“The Terminator,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”) — the latest 1980s cinema icon to join the cast — makes a brief appearance, saying in voiceover, “I love this show so much — I’m really a fan.”
Newcomer actors also act in lively scenes. Fisher, who played the creepy daughter in 2023’s “Evil Dead Rises,” played a girl (likely Mike’s younger sister Holly) in a flashy season 1. Brooks played Timothy McVeigh in the 2023 Showtime series “Wyco. : Aftermath,” can be seen briefly showing a gun. There’s a scene where Connelly stands next to Lucas’ sister Erica (Bria Ferguson), presumably as one of her classmates.
Netflix hasn’t announced when Season 5 will premiere, though it’s expected sometime in 2025.
