It’s rare for an official trailer to leak online, let alone for arguably the most anticipated TV show of the year. Yet, for some fans, their first experience of the official Stranger Things Season 5 trailer was through a split-second Twitter thread posted by Netflix itself, which was swiftly deleted.
However, the trailer was then reposted the following morning of Oct. 30, amassing over 300,000 likes and 3 million views within the first hour of release. From dramatic birds-eye shots of the city on lockdown to close-ups of the real world crumbling into the Upside Down, Netflix has strayed quite far from the small town of Hawkins we all once knew and loved.
The feeling of finality hung in the air and felt further emphasized by the trailer’s song choice of Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever?” It felt like a blatant reminder that this would be the last season, the last official trailer, and the last time with characters we know and love.
It also emphasized the incredible stakes of the show at the current moment; the heroes are facing massive losses, with even more bound to come. Death is on the horizon, and that begs the question of who is and who isn’t going to live.
Diving into the trailer itself, it seems like some characters are more at risk than others. The Byers brothers, for example, seem to be in the thick of it this season.
Jonathan has been featured prominently in the promotional material for this season, which marks a huge difference from his very minimal Season 4 involvement. Some of the main critiques from the past season were how badly Jonathan was sidelined, so I hypothesize this is either compensating and giving Byers an incredible redemption arc or preparing us for a very sad, and undeserved, goodbye.
Will, on the other hand, seems to be knee-deep in danger this season. The trailer’s closing shot is one of Will being summoned and choked by the main villain, Vecna. Vecna also references Will as “William” and how he’ll be helping him “one last time.”
From the levitation to the mind control Vecna apparently has on Will, it’s not looking good for the younger Byers boy, and he’s going to have some fights to survive.
The Wheeler siblings are also highlighted in the trailer, though not for their dramatic moments but for their leadership style instead. Both siblings were prominently featured in the trailer with speaking lines, and considering only four characters spoke, it’s worth noting.
Mike has been described as “the heart of the party” in past seasons, so it makes sense that he’ll be reprising his role as the leader. There are multiple shots, in fact, of Mike standing near the end of a table or in the middle of a group scene, seeming to be addressing his friends. This indicates some solid character growth for Mike, who was another sidelined character of Season 4.
The snippet of Nancy we receive is her pre-battle speech, it seems, where she warns the group about the dire situation with Vecna. There are several shots of Nancy in this trailer, including some jarring ones of her sobbing, washing blood off her hands, and packing heat with an AR rifle against the military presence in Hawkins. If there’s one thing for sure, it seems like Nancy will be at the front lines of the battle this season.
Another striking aspect of the trailer is the absence of some characters: most notably Steve Harrington, Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, and Robin Buckley. Each of these characters had less than 10 seconds of screen time in the over two-and-a-half-minute trailer, which may be concerning when considering the characters’ futures.
With less scene diversity for these characters, it might seem like we’ll be saying goodbye to one of them soon. We also have to consider the fact that Max Mayfield is still in her coma, with no signs of waking up anytime soon.
It feels like this Season 5 trailer acts as a callback to the first season of Stranger Things that we know and love, referencing character dynamics we haven’t seen since 2016.
The original party of the four boys — Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin — is back together, as well as Nancy and Jonathan, who are teaming up to crack the case again. Eleven being with her dad, Hopper, is a wonderful callback to Season 2, and there are also some new character dynamics to look forward to, such as those of Nancy and Eleven.
With the aesthetics of the ’80s dimming down to become grimmer as the final battle looms, it’s great that the trailer ends with a callback to where we all started: the day Will Byers vanished. It seems Season 5 will be very linked to the first season, but the only question is to what extent? I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out.
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