Stranger Things Season 5 is getting closer each day. While there’s no release date, the fifth and final season of the phenomenal Netflix series is expected to premiere this year.
There’s plenty to be excited about in the meantime — the wider Stranger Things universe continues to grow, perhaps in a similar way to how the Upside Down starts to consume the real world at the end of Season 4. Prequel novels, comic book crossovers, anime spinoffs, West End stage productions — there’s a lot going on within the expanded franchise.
But we’d all be lying if we said we didn’t have our sights set strictly on Season 5, and how things will end for characters we’ve grown to love for the last seven years.
Stranger Things has yet to kill off any main characters. You might argue that Bob Newby (Sean Astin) and Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) were part of the core lineup, but they were killed off in the same season that introduced them: Season 2 and Season 4, respectively.
But this could all be set to change in the upcoming final season. It’s fair to say that most of the actors probably won’t return to the Stranger Things universe once the flagship Netflix series comes to an end. The likes of Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), and David Harbour have already started to move on to other projects.
We doubt the Duffer brothers will start dispatching the main characters left and right, but at the same time, they’ll probably want to go out with a bang. Some stars have been teasing the ending for some time now, but in 2023, during a panel at the Motor City Comic Con, David Harbour made a point of emphasizing just how definitive the Season 5 ending will be.
Does this mean that Stranger Things will commit to killing off some main characters? Well, Season 4 leans into this possibility quite a bit. In fact, throughout the season, some characters may as well be walking around with Death himself in tow. As such, the latest season reveals which Hawkins heroes are most likely to meet their maker in the big finale.
Of course, there’s no telling who might die; it could be anyone. Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) — no one is safe from Vecna/One/Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower).
However, there are three characters who we would wager are on borrowed time. So here are our predictions for who will be killed off in Stranger Things Season 5.
Stranger Things Characters Likely to Die in Season 5
Eleven/Jane Hopper (Millie Bobby Brown)
Let’s start with the most obvious Stranger Things character: Eleven, AKA Jane Hopper. Eleven is the heart of the entire series, perhaps even the wider universe. Her telekinetic and telepathic abilities are so powerful they can create doorways into the Upside Down, the hellish shadow dimension that resides “beneath” the town of Hawkins.
Eleven is one of the most interesting characters in the show, and not just because of her extraordinary abilities, but because of her relationship with the Upside Down and her “Papa,” Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), the shady Hawkins Lab scientist who may very well have some paternal instincts towards Eleven, but is still a terrible human being.
The superhuman Hawkins teen isn’t the only one of her kind, either — as revealed in the Season 2 “spinoff” episode, “Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister,” and throughout Season 4’s Hawkins Lab flashbacks, there are many others just like her; one of them being Henry Creel, otherwise known as One (and now Vecna). However, Eleven may just be the most powerful.
Though we’ve already seen Eleven perform a great deal with her powers, only time will tell just how powerful she is. In the Season 4 finale, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback,” she faces Vecna in the Upside Down in an effort to save Max and Hawkins, and though she bests him, it seems their powers are equal. But, needless to say, Eleven is the key to defeating Vecna.
Her survival beyond Season 5 would pose a huge problem, though. Given her ability to open doorways into the Upside Down, it’s unlikely the government will leave her alone forever. So perhaps the only way for Eleven to truly save Hawkins and all her friends is to die with Vecna. We also know that pushing her powers beyond their limits a significant toll on her physical well-being. How far will she have to go in Season 5?
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Star Becomes Supergirl for DCU Reboot
Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink)
One of the main reasons fans are growing impatient for Season 5 is because they’re absolutely terrified for Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), who was introduced in Season 2’s first episode, “Chapter One: MADMAX.” Technically speaking, Max isn’t one of the original characters, but she’s been around so long now that she may as well be.
She’s a lot like Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) from The Office (2005 — 2013) in that way — it’s like she’s always been there despite having only shown up in Season 2. But will she always be around? Things aren’t looking great for Max — throughout Season 4, she’s hunted by Vecna, who has been targeting teens with some sort of personal trauma or guilt.
To keep him at bay, Max wisely decides to listen to her “happy song,” the iconic ’80s track “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush. The song is given a truly epic makeover throughout the season, and here in the real world, it was given a second life as a result, re-entering the charts worldwide and reaching number one in eight countries.
But while Kate Bush clearly has a ton of staying power here in the real world, she can only protect you for so long in Hawkins. In the Season 4 episode, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback,” Max finally falls victim to Vecna, who, per his signature move, breaks all of her limbs while floating her in mid-air (which was foreshadowed in “Chapter Four: Dear Billy.”)
Fortunately, Max survives Vecna’s attack but ends up in an unnatural coma as a result. And when Eleven tries to find her in the “dark place” using her telepathic powers, Max isn’t there, and we’re all left utterly devastated. Will Max survive? It’s looking doubtful.
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp)
Eleven may have taken center stage in the Netflix series, but it all started with Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) in Season 1’s “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” in which he’s taken by the deadly monster known as the Demogorgon and hidden away in the Upside Down, where he endures a nightmare that’s bound to leave him with lifelong scars.
And that they do, as teased at the end of Season 1’s “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down,” when he coughs up a disgusting parasite from the terrifying shadow dimension. Season 2 picks up this thread, pitting Will against the Upside Down once again, this time in a similar fashion to The Exorcist (1973), with his body being possessed by “The Mind Flayer.”
Beyond Stranger Things Season 2, Will slowly begins to get side-lined — which is, of course, a good thing, considering how much he’s already been through. One of the most unenviable tasks with Season 4 is just how many characters it deals with. Fortunately, the Duffer brothers and the rest of the crew are able to pull this off and then some.
However, to some extent, Will Byers is given slightly less attention than he needs as it paves the way for Season 5. There’s some emphasis given to his apparent love for his best friend Mike Wheeler, but it isn’t until one of the very last scenes in the finale, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback” that we’re reminded of Will’s disturbing connection with the Upside Down.
Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower has teased that there will be some sort of showdown between Will and Vecna, and recently, during the 2023 Motor City Comic Con, David Harbour was asked whether or not Will has any powers. He didn’t give a definitive answer, but it’s possible Will has acquired something from the Upside Down other than a lifetime of nightmares. Maybe Will is the key to defeating Vecna and not Eleven… but at what cost?
Where Can I Watch Stranger Things?
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 4 are streaming on Netflix.
Stranger Things stars Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Paul Reiser (Dr. Sam Owens), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Papa/Martin Brenner), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/One/Henry Creel).
Who do you think will die in Stranger Things Season 5? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
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