When is Stranger Things season 5 coming out? Full list of dates for Netflix final season

A dark cloud is hovering over Hawkins, Indiana as the final season of Stranger Things is about to begin. The blockbuster streaming show is set to come to an end nearly a decade after it first started.

Netflix’s massively popular science-fiction series - and loving homage to the 1980s - is set to kick-off the last conflict with the villainous Vecna and the Upside Down. However, unlike the early seasons, all the episodes will not drop at once.

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The final series is set to be split into three parts with some very festive release dates. Fans might get caught out if they don’t keep on top of the dates, especially with a difference due to time zones.

But when exactly can you expect the episodes to come out? Here’s all you need to know:

When is Stranger Things season 5 coming out?

The fifth and final series of the Netflix mega-hit is set to be released in three separate parts. The first batch of episodes will arrive in just a matter of days - but there will be a wait for the rest.

Stranger Things season five will be released on the following days:

• Volume 1 - November 26 (US)/ 27 (UK) - episodes 1 - 4
• Volume 2 - December 25 (US)/ 26 (UK) - episodes 5 - 7
• Finale - December 31 (US)/ January 1 (UK) - episode 8

What are the episode lengths in season 5?

Over the years, Stranger Things has become almost as synonymous with long episodes as it is with lengthy gaps between seasons. It has been more than three years since season four was released on Netflix back in the summer of 2022.

The season three finale had a run-time of one hour 18 minutes, which was the first episode to run for more than an hour. In season four, the run-times increased dramatically with the shortest being one hour and five minutes, while the longest was almost two and a half hours.

In a post on Instagram last month, co-showrunner Ross Duffer teased the run-times for the first volume of episodes. It is set to continue the trend of longer episodes, except in one case.

The run-times in part one of season five will look like:

• Chapter One: The Crawl – 1 hour and 8 minutes
• Chapter Two: The Vanishing of____ – 54 minutes
• Chapter Three: The Turnbow Trap – 1 hour and 6 minutes
• Chapter Four: Sorcerer – 1 hour and 23 minutes

What are the episode titles for season five?

• The Crawl
• The Vanishing Of….
• The Turnbow Trap
• Sorcerer
• Shock Jock
• Escape From Camazotz
• The Bridge
• The Rightside Up

The second episode is a tantalising tease for fans - and serves as a call back to the show’s pilot. If you remember ‘chapter one’ was called: The Vanishing of Will Byers.

So who will be the person who vanishes in the fifth season, bringing the show full circle. The final episode - The Rightside Up - is an interesting twist on the Upside Down concept from the show.

What to expect from Stranger Things season 5?

The show left off on quite the down note at the end of series four, with the group falling to stop Vecna. It left Max in a bad state and the town of Hawkins in disaster mode.

Netflix is keeping details close to its chest, unsurprisingly. However, it has offered a brief synopsis that reads: “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna.

“But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding.

“As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.”

The cast have offered up some tantalising teases for what to expect in season five. See what the Stranger Things actors had to say here.