It’s November 26, 2025. Stranger Things Season 5 drops today—Part 1, at least, because Netflix is dragging out the heartbreak like a Upside Down breakup. But before you binge the first four episodes and ugly-cry over Hawkins’ inevitable doom, stop everything. Netflix just unlocked the most gloriously over-the-top training clip since Rocky punched slabs of meat, and it’s got Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven looking like she’s auditioning for the role of “Final Girl Who Actually Lifts.”
The clip opens in a fog-shrouded forest outside Hawkins, the kind of misty woodland that screams “budget for practical effects just skyrocketed.” Eleven, decked out in a neon tank top, high-waisted shorts, and leg warmers that pay direct homage to Josh Brolin’s Chunk workout gear from The Goonies (because why not mash up ’80s nostalgia like it’s a Demobat smoothie?), is mid-sprint up a brutal incline. Sweat glistens on her forehead like she’s been possessed by the ghost of Jane Fonda. Behind her, Jim Hopper (David Harbour, looking like a grizzled dad who’s one protein shake away from a midlife crisis) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder, eternally the anxious mom holding a stopwatch like it’s a lifeline) cheer her on with that classic parental mix of pride and “please don’t die” panic.
“Push it, El! You got this!” Hopper bellows, his voice gravelly from years of yelling at Soviets and now, apparently, his adopted telekinetic daughter. Joyce, ever the emotional anchor, nods furiously while clutching a clipboard scribbled with times and notes like “less nosebleeds, more levitation.”
What follows is pure, unadulterated ’80s training montage magic—set to a thumping synth beat that could wake the Mind Flayer from hibernation. Eleven vaults over felled logs like they’re Lite-Brite pegs, scales a rickety wooden ladder that sways like it’s drunk on eggos, and belly-flops across a muddy trench, emerging covered in dirt but zero quit. Halfway through, she pauses to hurl a telekinetic blast at a cluster of dangling tires, sending them spinning like possessed piñatas. It’s not just physical prep; this is psychic warfare boot camp. The girl who once flipped vans with a nosebleed is now treating the forest like her personal obstacle course from hell.
The timer hits 12:33. A personal best. Hopper pumps his fist. Joyce whoops. And Eleven? She wipes grime from her face, locks eyes with the camera (because of course she does), and deadpans, “Reset it.” No smile. No high-five. Just that signature Eleven stare—the one that says, “I’ve survived government labs, alternate dimensions, and Vecna’s mixtape of trauma. This? This is Tuesday.”
Cue the goosebumps. And the memes. Within hours, X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit exploded with fan reactions that ranged from “Eleven Skywalker just trained harder than Luke on Dagobah” to “Vecna, pack your tentacles and run—Rocky Balboa Eleven is coming for your throne.” One viral edit synced the clip to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” while another Photoshopped her into Wonder Woman 1984 mid-lasso. “She’s not just training for Vecna,” one Redditor quipped. “She’s training to yeet the entire Upside Down back to 1983.” Another warned: “If El can outrun a rift-induced apocalypse in leg warmers, my New Year’s resolution is officially doomed.”
But beneath the hype and the hilarious thirst traps (yes, someone already started an “Eleven’s Abs” fan page), this clip is a gut-punch reminder that Stranger Things is ending. After nine years of bikes, bad hair, and interdimensional bullies, we’re staring down the series finale. Season 5, set in fall 1987, picks up with Hawkins a quarantined warzone—rifts tearing the sky like paper cuts from hell, the military breathing down everyone’s necks, and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower, probably cackling in full vine prosthetics) playing hide-and-seek with the fate of the world. Our gang’s back: Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Will (Noah Schnapp, whose connection to Vecna is about to hit like a plot twist nuke), Max (Sadie Sink, fingers crossed she wakes up from that coma), and the rest of the Hawkins crew, plus cameos that’ll make you snort your waffles (looking at you, Linda Hamilton as a mysterious Dr. Kay).
The stakes? Apocalyptically high. Eleven’s not just fighting for her found family anymore; she’s the last line of defense against a villain who weaponizes your worst memories. Remember Season 4’s clock-chiming nightmares? Multiply that by end-of-the-world desperation. This training isn’t glamorous gym-sesh fluff—it’s Eleven confronting her limits, her losses (RIP Eddie and Barb, we still mourn), and the very real fear that one wrong telekinetic flick could cost everything. Millie Bobby Brown, now 21 and a full-blown force of nature, sells every strained breath and steely glare like she’s lived it. (Fun fact: Brown revealed in a recent TUDUM interview that she trained for months—real obstacle courses, real weights—to nail the physicality, because “Eleven deserves to kick ass without a net.”)
And let’s talk Vecna for a sec. The dude’s vanished post-Season 4, scheming in the shadows like a goth Thanos with a Clockwork Orange obsession. This clip screams that the showdown won’t be a quick nosebleed fix; it’ll be brutal, bloody, and probably involve every survivor piling on in a Lord of the Rings-style alliance. Military quarantine? Check. Intensified Eleven hunt? Double check. Emotional guttings disguised as plot? Triple check with a side of tears.
As Part 1 streams today (episodes 1-4, because Netflix loves a cliffhanger), followed by Part 2 on Christmas (5-7, ho ho horror) and the epic finale episode in theaters and on Netflix December 31 (because nothing says New Year’s Eve like interdimensional fireworks), this clip is your hype shot in the arm. It’s Eleven saying, “I’m ready.” It’s the Duffer Brothers whispering, “Buckle up.” And it’s us, the fans who grew up with these misfits, realizing we’re not just watching a show end—we’re closing a chapter on our own awkward ’80s fever dream.
So hit play on that clip. Feel the synth pulse. Root for the girl in leg warmers who could crush worlds with a whisper. And when Vecna shows his ugly mug? Cheer louder. Because if Eleven can reset the timer after tumbling through mud for humanity’s sake, we can survive one more heartbreak.
Stranger Things 5 isn’t just the end. It’s the fight worth training for.
