Netflix has officially lifted the curtain on the first five minutes of "Stranger Things" Season 5 - and it's a haunting return to the nightmare that started it all. The final season of the beloved sci-fi horror saga doesn't waste a second easing viewers in. Instead, it hurls them straight back into the terror of 1983 Hawkins, reawakening the fear, mystery, and nostalgia that defined the show's earliest moments.
The opening scene, taken from the first episode titled "The Crawl," throws audiences right into the Upside Down. In a chilling sequence, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is once again the focus, alone and trembling in his makeshift fort as an all-too-familiar sound breaks the silence - the screech of something monstrous. Within moments, a Demogorgon emerges from the shadows, hunting its prey with unnerving precision.
What begins as a desperate chase through the woods turns into something far more horrifying when Will is dragged into a crimson-lit chamber - the lair of Vecna himself. The monstrous villain, introduced in Season 4, is revealed to be in full command, with the Demogorgon obeying his every move. For the first time, the creature appears intelligent, responding to Vecna's commands as part of a larger, more sinister hierarchy.
Will, terrified but defiant, fires a single shot in a futile attempt to escape before collapsing into unconsciousness. What follows is one of the most disturbing moments in the franchise's history: Vecna leans over Will and injects him with a dark, pulsing fluid through a vine, symbolically binding their fates.
"At long last, we can begin," Vecna says, his voice calm and cold. "You and I, we're going to do such beautiful things together."
This twisted encounter hints that Vecna has been orchestrating events far longer than anyone realized - possibly even manipulating the "rescue" mission that ended Season 1. The revelation recontextualizes years of storytelling, suggesting the Upside Down's grip on Hawkins was never truly broken.
Once the flashback concludes, the story leaps ahead to 1987, where Hawkins is barely recognizable. The once-idyllic small town has become a militarized zone under quarantine, its streets patrolled by soldiers and its residents monitored by surveillance cameras.
"We usually set up their normal life and how they're going about school, and then we introduce the supernatural element. But in this case, this season is sprinting from the start," said co-creator Ross Duffer.
His brother and co-creator, Matt Duffer, also commented, saying, "Nothing in Hawkins is normal anymore. Their movement is restricted, and there are Big Brother cameras everywhere. So not only are they active - their everyday, normal lives are anything but."
The Duffers also teased that the series' long-guarded mythology will finally come to fruition. For years, the creators have kept a private document outlining the deeper lore of the Upside Down.
"The last remaining questions that are answered in that document, we've punted a couple of those to have some big reveals in Season 5. And that's really going to affect what Season 5 is about," said Ross Duffer.
Netflix will release the last season in three installments:
* Part 1 (Episodes 1-4) premieres November 26, 2025
* Part 2 (Episodes 5-7) follows on December 25, 2025
* The series finale arrives December 31, 2025
