Why is Stranger Things ending with season 5?

It’s almost time for Stranger Things fans to return to the Upside Down. Netflix’s genre-bending sci-fi hit will return to screens in 2025 for its fifth and final season, with stars including Linda Hamilton, Nell Fisher and Alex Breaux joining the cast.

With the prospect of Stranger Things season 6 off the table, the 80s-set show is likely to deliver an explosive finale — but why is it coming to a close, and will there be any spin-offs? Here's everything we know about the decision.

Why is Stranger Things ending with season 5?

Matt and Ross Duffer, the masterminds behind Stranger Things, always planned for the supernatural show to end with season 5. In an open letter shared on Netflix’s blog in 2022, they wrote: "Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things.

"At the time, we predicted the story would last four or five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you'll soon see for yourselves — we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.”

While speaking to The Guardian in late 2023, the Duffer Brothers discussed the difficulties of sticking the landing when it comes to ending a popular show in a satisfying way.

“The nine hours that precede the ending can be amazing,” reasoned Ross, “but if you stumble at that one-yard line, people will never forgive you for that. And they’ll forget the previous nine hours of awesomeness! So it’s amazing what they will forgive if you score a touchdown at the end.

“Endings of shows are like opening a restaurant in terms of the success-failure rate — there’s an 80% failure rate, I’d say... But I think one very particular way to fail is to attempt to appease everybody. We have a huge variety of fans that span a huge age range and I’m sure they have all their own ideas of how they want the show to end.

"But we’re not consulting social media on this. Then you just hope and pray that it resonates. But it was funny: once we got there, it just felt right and we’re going to go for it!”

Will there be any Stranger Things spin-offs?

Stranger Things season 5 will not be the last we see of the show’s universe, as two spin-off shows have already been confirmed — although it’s unclear when they could be released.

The first is an animated spin-off series “in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving”, according to the Duffer Brothers, and the second is a live-action spin-off that will be “very, very different” to the main show. However, plot details for both shows remain firmly under wraps.

“We haven’t told anyone the idea yet, much less written it,” the pair told Variety in 2022. “But somehow Finn Wolfhard — who is one crazy smart kid — correctly guessed what it was going to be about. But aside from Finn, no one else knows!” However, they denied that a film focused on Millie Bobby Brown’s character Eleven was in the works.

A standalone stage show, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, premiered in London’s West End in late 2023 and is expected to head to Broadway in spring 2025. The play has won critical acclaim, with The Guardian calling the show “breathtaking,” while The Evening Standard said: “This astonishing show turns normal expectations of theatre upside down.”

Stranger Things season 5 will be released on Netflix in 2025