The evil Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) is not only coming for the Hawkins children, but also for the holidays. The fifth and final season of “Strangers Things” will premiere on Netflix beginning in November, with Volume 1 releasing on Thanksgiving Eve, Volume 2 on Christmas Day, and the series finale landing on New Year’s Eve. Chances are, if you have a “Stranger Things” fan in your house this holiday, you won’t be watching anything else. Season 4 was a huge success and viewers have been waiting for this huge cliffhanger since 2022, even though /Film’s Chris Evangelista considered the latest batch of episodes overstuffed in his review. To make the arrival of the end of the science fiction phenomenon even more anticipated, it was recently announced that the grand finale would last more than two hours. They’re basically movies at this point.
Playing the first two volumes of Season 5 in theaters is a failure, although I witnessed David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks: The Return” gather a crowd for screenings of all 18 episodes last month. It’s not impossible, but rather logistically difficult for most theaters. The series finale, on the other hand, is about as long as a feature film, so it feels more natural. But Bela Bajaria, chief content officer at Netflix, thinks otherwise, as she believes “Stranger Things” fans will be happy to see it exclusively on the streaming service (via Variety):
“A lot of people – lots, lots, lots of people – have watched ‘Stranger Things’ on Netflix. […] it didn’t suffer from a lack of conversation, community, sharing, or fandom. I think releasing it on Netflix gives the fans what they want.”
Netflix thinks Stranger Things finale will be enough on the streaming service
Given that it’s still one of the biggest streaming platforms of all time, it makes sense from Netflix’s perspective to keep things in-house and not give more attention to their competitors. In fact, it’s been proven time and time again that everyone wins when streamers and theaters collaborate. Netflix recently struck a deal with AMC Theaters to play “KPop Demon Hunters” during the upcoming Halloween weekend. This follows the Sing-Along release which grossed $19.2 million in two days from nearly 1,700 screens. two months after it was already available on Netflix. Subscribers could watch it as many times as they wanted at home, and yet they paid money to see it on the big screen with people. So why say no to “Stranger Things”?
In addition to monetary rewards, there is also the nature of community. “Stranger Things 5” is being billed as a massive event that a lot of people will be talking about. I remember seeing the series finale of “Breaking Bad” in a room full of people in 2013, and I couldn’t have had a better experience. It would also look better on a theater screen than compressed on your TV. I don’t think Netflix’s line of thinking will be this stubborn at the end of the year. If the finale is received positively, isn’t as divisive as the end of “Game of Thrones” and sticks the landing with fans, there could be a course correction. Not to mention that it would probably make subscribers go home and watch it again. It’s like Netflix is sometimes allergic to money.
“Stranger Things 5” Volume 1 will be available to stream on Netflix on November 26, 2025.
