Netflix drops Stranger Things 5 teaser ahead of final episode - but what's next?
End of an era
The end is here. Stranger Things ends on January 1st for us in the UK, and Netflix has treated us to one more trailer to drum up a last hit of attention.
It has already amassed more than 10 million views, even though the 90-second-odd trailer isn’t out to spill the beans on how the finale ends.
Stranger Things 5’s last episode drops at 1am on January 1st in the UK, and it’s longer than many movies. It’s called The Rightside Up and is two hours eight minutes long.
Those in the US and Canada get the chance to see the finale in cinemas, including 200 AMC venues. But in the UK? Not a sniff, you’ll just have to make do with watching it on TV.
Netflix subscribers are well and truly in the grip of Stranger Things fever at the moment. The five seasons of the show are taking up five positions in this week’s top 10 global Netflix TV shows chart, with Stranger Things 5 of course right up there in the top spot.
It was viewed for a collective 284 million hours over the week from December 22nd to 28th, including a few of days following the drop of Stranger Things 5 Part 2 on December 26th.
What happens now? While it’s the end of the road for the mainline Stranger Things story, you can count on Netflix to mine a feverish audience whenever it can.
This will happen in the first instance with Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, which is due in 2026. Exact date TBC. It’s an animated spin-off set between the events of season 2 and season 3.
Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers have also confirmed their involvement in a live action spin-off that will no doubt take a lot longer to reach our screens.
The concept is the show will be set in the same universe, but will not feature any of the same characters. It’s a fresh story. Different actors. And even a new creative team — Matt and Ross Duffer will reportedly oversee the show’s development rather than directly leading it.
The Duffer Brothers have been attached to Netflix projects The Boroughs and Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, while their long-rumoured take on Stephen King’s The Talisman was cancelled just days ago.
The duo are entering a new agreement with Paramount in April 2026. It’s the end of an era for Netflix in more ways than one.
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