Stranger Things Season 5 Trailer: The 5 Biggest Takeaways

After nearly three years of waiting since the ending of Stranger Things season 4, Netflix’s era-defining original series finally has a concluding release date and a teaser trailer with some remnants of the Upside Down sprinkled in for good measure.

At least half of the trailer is dedicated to a recap of the previous four seasons of the show, but there are some key moments that help paint an early picture of what to expect in the final season without spoiling too much. These are the five things we learned from the Stranger Things season 5 teaser trailer at Tudum.

Joyce Is an Axe-Wielding Badass

Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) has redefined what it means to be a badass mom in the annals of TV lore. She was perceived as a paranoid nut by her friends and family when Will (Noah Schnapp) was first taken to the Upside Down in season 1. Her perseverance and determination to find her boy, no matter what anybody tried to convince her of, showed that a great mother’s love is always the best weapon against evil.

Sometimes, a tangible tool is also needed when talking about slaying supernatural monsters from another dimension, though. Joyce has gotten progressively more comfortable evolving into warrior mode as the seasons went on. The trailer gives us a peek at Joyce with an axe in hand, awaiting an unseen danger. I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of Mama Byer’s tomahawk.

Will is Still Traumatized

Will Byers is Stranger Things’ most unfortunate character. He was the first victim of both the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer. He also doesn’t get a lot of personal fulfillment compared to his peers, going through a coming out journey in season 4 that may or may not lead to unrequited love in the final act. 

The Duffer Brothers and Schnapp have talked about how important Will would be to defeating Vecna and erasing the Upside Down from Hawkins in season 5, and the teaser trailer puts him front and center. From an initial discussion with Joyce about how they both when he was first taken to the dark side, to an already memeable primal scream of “RUN!” in the last clip of the trailer, it looks like Will is once again a prominent catalyst for the unrelenting action. Give this young man something to smile about. Please!

Mike Has Some New Friends 

Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) has usually been the resident babysitter of the Hawkins youth throughout the first four seasons, but a small clip in the trailer makes us think that Mike Wheeler might be leveling up and taking Steve’s place. A still shot near the middle of the teaser shows Mike, both arms out in a protective shield, standing in front of Joyce, Will, and three younger kids who we haven’t met yet. While there’s really no time for the Duffers to introduce even more characters to the series with only a few episodes left, it’s also very cool to see how far Mike has come as the leader of the party.

The Military Might Get Involved

As scary as the Upside Down has been for the residents of Hawkins, the conflict between the small town and the monsters on the underside of it has been mostly void of government officials. Russian involvement was a big thing in the third season, and Commander Jack Sullivan featured in season 4.

This sets up perfectly for the United States military to put all hands on deck in the fifth season, sending troops into Hawkins and making the battle a large-scale global war. A small scene in the teaser corroborates this prediction by showing troops fighting unknown enemies. It’s a fantastic idea to give the show grander stakes as long as the intimacy of rural America is still at the heart of the themes.

Netflix Can’t Decide Between a Binge-Watch and a Weekly Release

The Stranger Things season 5 release date is what we’ve all been waiting for. Now that we have it, people are a little confused about what Netflix is trying to accomplish with its three-pronged attack. Volume 1 releases on November 26, volume 2 on December 25, and the series finale on December 31. I’m not here to discuss the merits of the holiday approach to the season (I don’t mind spending Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve in Hawkins), but it feels like Netflix is conflicted about how to create the most anticipation for this season.

Netflix is famous for popularizing the all-at-once release schedule. Making all episodes available at the same time gives people the thrill of a binge-watch, but it also takes away all the excitement and discourse that takes place with a weekly release. Netflix is going somewhere in between by putting the episodes out in three parts and keeping the finale a sacred TV event (as they should), but I can’t help but think that going old school and returning to a once-weekly schedule would have created the maximum hype that this series deserves in its final rodeo.