Stranger Things Season 5 Just Got a Walking Dead Powerhouse?! You might have forgotten, but a major TWD star is set to shake things up in the Upside Down! Who is it, and what role will they play? Find out here!

When Netflix’s Stranger Things comes back in 2025, as the Duffer Brothers confirmed, it will finally be time to say goodbye to Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and the other clever, funny, and heartwarming characters who have captivated viewers since 2016. Although no series finale has been completely flawless, most feel that they will be happy as long as their favorite character ends up in a good place. It’s also hard not to hope that fans get answers to every query, like finding out more about Will and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).

There’s a lot to love about Stranger Things season 5 already, from the battle between Vecna and the other characters that has been teased to Brown’s comments that the wait is “worth it.” The Walking Dead fans will also be happy to know that someone who worked on the AMC drama is also involved with Stranger Things season 5, which is exciting to hear about.

The Walking Dead’s Frank Darabont Is Directing Two Stranger Things Season 5 Episodes

Frank Darabont is directing two episodes of Stranger Things season 5, which is exciting news for fans of The Walking Dead. Darabont developed and executive produced The Walking Dead season 1, which aired from 2010 to 2011. He previously wrote several episodes of Tales from the Crypt and was a director on The Shield in 2007. Then, after The Walking Dead, he wrote and directed three episodes of Mob City. The Duffer Brothers are Stephen King fans, and Darabont has also worked on some King adaptations. He wrote and directed the 1994 adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption and the 1999 movie The Green Mile. Darabont also wrote and directed The Mist, which has a sad ending.

Fans know the Stranger Things season 5 episode titles and have tried to figure out what each episode will be about. The titles are powerful, memorable, and at this moment, mysterious. The Duffer Brothers will be directing Stranger Things season 5 episodes 1 and 2, along with the series finale. Darabont is directing episodes three and five, which are called “The Turnbow Trap” and “Shock Jock.” Shawn Levy, who directed Deadpool 3, is directing the sixth episode, which is called “Escape from Camazotz.”

While The Walking Dead is about the zombie apocalypse and Stranger Things is about kids dealing with monsters in a small town, the two shows have some similarities. They feature well-developed characters, powerful villains like Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan Smith, and big twists. Both TV series also combine big twists and cliffhangers with brief scenes of characters exchanging smart and funny dialogue that are just as unforgettable. In 2010, Darabont gave an interview to Comicbookmovie.com and said he liked the strong characters on The Walking Dead, which is something that could also be said about Stranger Things. He explained:

“One of the things I found most intriguing about The Walking Dead was that it was so focused on the characters. Within the context of the cool zombie apocalypse, there was this very serious character drama. I thought, this is a great opportunity to satisfy not only zombie fans, but bring in an audience that wouldn’t normally, necessarily, seek out a zombie film to watch.”

What Did Frank Darabont Say About Stranger Things Season 5?

In a 2024 interview with The Daily Beast, Frank Darabont talked about how being retired before he began working on Stranger Things season 5. His last project was working on Mob City in 2013. He said:

“What really dragged me out of retirement was that my wife and I really love this show. Our content now is so filled with horrible people doing horrible things for greedy reasons but Stranger Things has so much heart. That positivity is something I really responded to.”

It’s fun to hear that Darabont was a fan of Stranger Things before he was hired as a director on the fifth and final season. Fans of The Walking Dead and Darabont’s excellent Stephen King movies are curious if he’s going to direct more TV episodes or movies in the future. He said “Who knows?” and he “missed being on set with creative people.”

With so many Stephen King adaptations in the works at any given moment, fans would be more than happy to see Darabont directing more movies in the future. It will be exciting to see his Stranger Things season 5 episodes.