‘Stranger Things 5’ Finale Trailer: Eleven Prepares for the Final Fight Against Venca as Netflix Series Ends With Two Hour-Plus Last Episode

Netflix has released the trailer for the “Stranger Things 5″ finale, which debuts in theaters and on the streamer Dec. 31.

Titled “The Rightside Up,” the finale is the eighth episode in the show’s fifth and final season. Netflix released the first four episodes of Season 5 on Thanksgiving Day as “Stranger Things 5: Volume 1″ and then the subsequent three episodes on Christmas as “Volume 2.”

Volume 2 concluded with Episode 7, where Max (Sadie Sink), successfully brought back to consciousness, reveals archvillain Vecna’s plan to merge the world with a parallel dimension on the other side of the Upside Down, dubbed the Abyss. The characters devise a plan to enter the Abyss, rescue Vecna’s kidnapped children and destroy it with a bomb. In the final scene, Vecna— still disguised as the human Henry Creel—has his brainwashed victims join hands in a spellbinding séance as they are transported to the Abyss.

Matt and Ross Duffer created “Stranger Things” nearly a decade ago, and Netflix released the first season in July 2016. The paranormal mystery became an instant phenomenon, and Seasons 2 and 3 were released in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Like Season 5, Season 4 was released in two separate volumes in May and July of 2022. The series has also spawned a stageplay, “Stranger Things: First Shadow,” which premiered on London’s West End in 2023 and is currently playing on Broadway.

In a recent interview with Variety, the Duffers said one of the big outstanding questions for the finale is “how can there be a happy ending” for Eleven, given she will still be hunted by the military even if she manages to save the world? They explained that on a thematic level, Eleven’s arc is a push and pull between Mike’s idealist outlook and Kali’s cynical worldview.

“There is the supernatural threat, which is represented by Vecna this season. But the military has always posed a threat, from Season 1 on. Even when Brenner is gone, he gets continually replaced by someone else. In this case, in Season 5, by Kay,” said Ross Duffer. “So we needed Kali to represent maybe a more pessimistic, but perhaps realistic, version, compared to Mike’s worldview of we’re gonna have butterflies and rainbows. And Kali’s going, ‘How is this going to work? And what is the solution here, that you can live a normal life?’ That’s really a huge part of Eleven’s journey this season.”

“Stranger Things” is one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time, and it recently surpassed 1.2 billion total views on the streamer.

The finale has a runtime of two hours and five minutes and will be the franchise’s first big-screen outing, playing in more than 500 theaters across the United States and Canada. The first screenings will begin on New Year’s Eve at 5 p.m P.T., coinciding with the episode’s release on Netflix. It will play in theaters through Jan. 1. According to Ross Duffer, 1.1 million people have RSVP’d to experience the “Stranger Things 5” finale in theaters. He also claimed that 3,500 showtimes in more than 620 theaters are sold out.

Check out the trailer below.