It’s one last fight for Eleven and company, and things are looking, well, not great. As the finale of Stranger Things, otherwise known as Stranger Things 5 Vol. 3, gears up for its premiere on New Year’s Eve (both on the small screen and in theatres across the U.S. and Canada), Netflix has released a highly anticipated trailer teasing an action-packed, ominous romp to come.
“Life has been so unfair to you,” says Hopper, played by David Harbour, to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the opening moments. “Your childhood was taken from you, you’ve been attacked, manipulated by terrible people, but you never let it break you.”
After rallying her to fight for “a world beyond Hawkins” and “the days on the other side of this,” the clip cuts to several figures looking up at the flashing red sky. Vecna’s clawed hand emerges, prompting a shocked Dustin to softly exclaim “Mother of God” and Hopper’s closing line of “Let’s end this.”
While an adrenaline-filled time is a given, it seems fans should also expect a character death or two. There isn’t an explicit confirmation, obviously, but the 50-second mark shows a sobbing Dustin being pulled away by a soldier and looking visibly distraught. Could Steven Harrington (Joe Kerry) be the reason? It’s not a far stretch, for creators Ross and Matt Duffer have previously hinted at his potential demise.
The good news is that there won’t be multiple deaths. “It’s not Game of Thrones. We’re not in Westeros. I love Game of Thrones, but it’s just a very different type of show than that,” Matt told The Hollywood Reporter previously. “There’s not going to be a Red Wedding situation.”
Titled “The Rightside Up”, the 128-minute closer is set to answer the show’s biggest mystery and wrap one of the streamer’s most popular projects of all time with a total of 1.2 billion views to date. It comes after the debut of Volume 1 on Thanskgiving, 27 November, and Volume 2 on Christmas Day, with the franchise’s first big-screen screening landing 1.1 million RSVPs and selling out 3,500 showtimes across more than 620 theatres.
After nine years of paranormal mystery, all eyes are on the Duffer Brothers to stick the landing following the mixed reception of the final season, largely contributed by Volume 2. The lengthy runtime leaves plenty of room to tie up most — but likely not all — loose ends, although the pacing thus far makes it difficult to hope for a rewarding payoff.
Satisfying conclusion or not, it won’t be the last fans see of Stranger Things, as the sci-fi world is set to expand with an animated series titled Tales of ’85, a novel focusing on Natalie Dyer’s Nancy Wheeler, and a secret spin-off that will reportedly introduce a completely different story, setting, and cast of characters.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
