While Stranger Things season 5 is one of the most anticipated TV releases of 2025, the Netflix show’s concluding chapter will have a hard time tying up all the loose ends of the series. Stranger Things season 5 is due to arrive in 2025, with Netflix announcing that production wrapped on the series in late December 2024. Who will survive Stranger Things season 5 remains a mystery, although some characters seem more likely to end up on the chopping block than others. However, the show’s body count isn’t the only thing that remains unexplained heading into season 5.

Stranger Things season 5 will bring a sprawling saga to a close and, in doing so, the show will need to wrap up the story of over a dozen main characters. Eleven’s battle with Vecna will be central to the events of season 5, but her love interest Mike and her oldest friends Lucas and Dustin also need to get some screen time and character focus. Meanwhile, Mike’s older sister Nancy remains embroiled in a longstanding love triangle with Mike’s brother Jonathan and Dustin’s best friend Steve, while season 2 newcomer Max was left in a coma after season 4.

10Can Max Still Defeat Vecna While In A Coma

Max’s Near-Death Experience Makes Her A Pivotal Character

Although Eleven remained the show’s star, Stranger Things season 4 made Sadie Sink’s Max an unexpectedly pivotal character thanks to her battles with Vecna. Max faced off against the villain on her own in the instantly iconic “Running Up That Hill” sequence, wherein her favorite music gave her the psychological and emotional power to repel Vecna’s attacks and escape his clutches. Max was not so lucky in season 4’s finale when she and Eleven joined forces to take on the villain. This time, Vecna was narrowly defeated by Eleven, but Max was left in a coma because of their brutal battle.

As such, season 5 needs to clarify whether Max can help defeat Vecna while trapped in a coma. The answer to this question may appear obvious since Max seemingly can’t move or communicate. However, Max’s self from the Upside-Down may not be as immobile as her real-life self, and season 4’s finale depicted the Upside-Down leaking into Hawkins. As such, Max’s Stranger Things season 5 role might finally explain whether a character can exist alongside their counterpart from the Upside-Down. This means Max might still be able to help her friends defeat Vecna despite being trapped in a coma.

9Can Hawkins Survive The Upside-Down’s Invasion Of The Town

Hawkins Seemed Doomed Before Season 5 Began

Speaking of the Upside-Down spreading into Hawkins, Stranger Things season 5 will need to explain how this has impacted the town. Since the cast has grown a lot since the series began, Stranger Things season 5 will almost certainly feature a time jump at its beginning. This would allow the cast’s real-life ages to align with those of their characters, ensuring that the 20-year-old Millie Bobby Brown and 22-year-old Finn Wolfhard are not left playing 16-year-old characters. However, this also means the Upside-Down will have had years to seep into Hawkins, presumably causing an ecological catastrophe.

8Did Vecna’s Presence Impact The People Of Hawkins

The Town’s Satanic Panic Seemed Linked To Vecna’s Psychic Powers

The Stranger Things season 5 time jump means that the impact of Vecna’s home breaching containment cannot simply be ignored in season 5. However, Stranger Things season 5 should also explain just how much of an impact Vecna had on the town before the Upside-Down began to merge with the suburb. Vecna has the power to manipulate the fears of his victims and the entire populace of Hawkins became gripped by Satanic panic in season 4, so season 5 needs to explain how much of this mass hysteria can be traced back to Vecna and how much was old-fashioned small-town paranoia.

7What Linked Will Byers To Vecna Throughout Stranger Things

Vecna And Will’s Longstanding Psychic Link Remains Unexplained

Vecna has seemingly been linked to Will Byers since Stranger Things season 1, when the unfortunate kid was first attacked by a Demogorgon and became trapped in the Upside-Down. However, the nature of the pair’s psychic link has been left largely unexplored in the series. Some fan theories claim that Will Byers could be season 5’s villain thanks to his mysterious connection to Venca, but Stranger Things must explain the nature of their link regardless. Both characters were lonely young outcasts, which may be the extent of their similarities, but Will might also harbor secret powers unbeknownst to him.

6Will Nancy End Up With Jonathan, Steve, Or Neither Of Them

Stranger Things’ Oldest Love Triangle Needs A Proper Conclusion

Questions like how Vecna is linked to Will and how the Upside-Down impacts the people of Hawkins are all reasonable, but this ignores a huge part of what makes Stranger Things such a uniquely beloved series. The show’s large cast of characters is central to its appeal and, for every viewer who wants to know the origin of Vecna’s powers, there are those who just want to know if Mike and Eleven will ever catch a break as a couple. On that note, the question of whether Nancy ends up with Steve, Jonathan, or neither hangs heavy over Stranger Things season 5.

Nancy and Jonathan’s romance eventually resulted in Nancy dumping Steve for Will’s older brother, but the pair ran into a rough patch in season 3.

Nancy dated Steve at the beginning of Stranger Things season 1 but bonded with Jonathan while investigating Will’s disappearance. Nancy and Jonathan’s romance eventually resulted in Nancy dumping Steve for Will’s older brother, but the pair ran into a rough patch in season 3. Nancy and Jonathan’s future looked even dimmer by season 4, with Jonathan lying to his girlfriend about his college application plans since he didn’t want to let her down. Now, it has never been more difficult to work out which of these paramours, if either, Nancy will end up with in the end.

5Is Eddie Munson Permanently Gone After His Season 4 Finale Fate

The Fan Favorite Character’s Tragic Death Could Be Undone

Eddie’s Stranger Things season 4 finale death was one of the show’s saddest moments ever, but the series has been known to undo some tragic losses before. Most infamously, Hopper’s season 3 finale death was revealed to be a fake-out when it turned out David Harbour’s grizzled cop had really ended up in a Russian prison camp. Similarly, season 1’s tragic discovery of Will’s dead body turned out to be a quickly debunked fake. As such, Stranger Things season 5’s episode titles have some viewers understandably wondering whether Eddie could make an unlikely comeback in the outing.

4Will Eleven’s Sister Kali And Her Fellow Test Subjects Ever Return To Hawkins

Kali and The Test Subjects Could Prove Central To Season 5

Although Eddie’s comeback might seem unlikely, there are other supporting stars that the hit show is even less likely to mention if their existence can be ignored. Eleven’s fellow test subjects, who were introduced in season 2’s widely-reviled episode 7, “The Lost Sister,” have scarcely been acknowledged since that infamous outing. Kali and her cohort of super-powered misfits were clearly intended to receive a spinoff of their own, but their adventure with Eleven proved so unpopular that the subplot was dropped entirely throughout seasons 3 and 4. This worked for those outings, but now their existence must be addressed.

Either Eleven or Vecna could try to corral the other test subjects to their side in the battle of Hawkins.

If Stranger Things season 5 is to meaningfully wrap up the story of the series, the show must answer the question of what happened to the rest of the test subjects. Since viewers learned that Vecna/Henry Creel was the first Hawkins Lab test subject, this makes the marauding band of runaway test subjects all the more important for the show’s ending. Either Eleven or Vecna could try to corral the other test subjects to their side in the battle of Hawkins, and Kali may potentially defect to Vecna’s side thanks to the villain’s masterful manipulation and her feeling of betrayal when Eleven left the group behind at the end of “The Lost Sister.”

3Did Dr. Brenner Really Die For Good In Stranger Things Season 4

Dr. Brenner’s Second Death Could Be Another Fake-Out

While Kali’s continued existence must be addressed in Stranger Things season 5, she is not the only former inhabitant of Hawkins Lab whose role in the show remains unclear. Eleven’s mentor, Dr. Brenner, seemingly died midway through season 4 when he sacrificed his life to ensure that Eleven escaped her pursuers. However, the character had already survived a full-blown Demogorgon attack back in season 1, so there is no way to be sure he is really dead. Stranger Things season 4’s Dr. Brenner death may be a fake-out, and the character could still return in season 5.

2Did The Upside-Down Exist Before Henry Creel/Vecna

The Origins Of The Upside-Down Still Seem Murky

Stranger Things season 4 part 1’s ending did a good job of explaining how Henry Creel became Vecna after Eleven defeated him in Hawkins Lab as a child. However, this doesn’t mean that his entire backstory makes sense yet. It is still not clear whether the Upside-Down existed before Vecna and, if so, how it came to be in the first place. The psychic space resembles a primordial planet when Vecna first arrives there, brutally disfigured by his encounter with Eleven. Season 5 must explain whether Creel created this space or if the Upside-Down already existed in a primitive form.

1Can Eleven Live A Normal Life If She Defeats Vecna

The Future Of Millie Bobby Brown’s Heroine Seems Uncertain

Many of the biggest unanswered mysteries in Stranger Things season 5 concern the show’s lore and the backstory of its characters, but there is also a more practical plot problem that the series must address. Eleven has repeatedly been traumatized since her time in Hawkins Lab, having faced down Demogorgons, the Mind Flayer, and Vecna, been kidnapped by Brenner’s agents, and mourned Hopper’s apparent death. Thus, if she survives her final battle with Vecna and is reunited with Mike and the rest of the gang, Stranger Things season 5 must answer whether Eleven can ever have a normal life again.