Netflix’s Stranger Things became a megahit through its mix of goofy ‘80s nostalgia and supernatural mystery. The interdimensional kidnappings, brutal ritual murder, and rampaging monsters were blended with trips to the mall, Halloween dress up, and games of Dungeons & Dragons that gave the show a strong emotional core, punctuating the horror with laughs.
But all the fun stuff is missing in the trailer for the show’s fifth and final season. It’s a deadly serious look at how the people of Hawkins, Indiana are trapped in their town by the military, which is trying to contain the horror that Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) unleashed at the end of season 4.
Group Dungeon Master and leader Mike (Finn Wolfhard) is looking for a way to find and fight Vecna while Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is showing off her psychic powers. But the trailer is mostly a dour look at the characters bloodied, battered, crying, and terrified as they face waves of Demogorgons and rifts opening in the ground.
Max (Sadie Sink) is rescued from the hospital by Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), who is chased by a demodog. Poor Will (Noah Schnapp), who came back from the Upside Down with a connection to the Mind Flayer, finds himself at the mercy of Vecna, who is going to make Will help him “one last time.”
Co-creator Ross Duffer confirmed in a post on Tudum that the mundane silliness isn’t just absent in the trailer.
“I think what’s unique about this season is that it starts a little bit in chaos because our heroes ultimately lost at the end of season 4,” he said. “We usually set up their normal life and how they’re going about school, and then we introduce the supernatural element. But in this case, this season is sprinting from the start.”
The first four episodes of Stranger Things season 5 will premiere on Netflix on Nov. 26, with three more episodes dropping on Christmas and the finale airing on New Year’s Eve.