Picture: Netflix
The steady drumbeat of Stranger Things news and information is picking up as we’ve entered the back half of 2025 and are hurtling towards the release dates of the final batch of episodes. While most will have been enjoying their weekend, the Duffer Brothers are deep in post-production, putting the finishing touches on Volume 1.
If you can believe it, the teaser trailer was released nearly half a month ago, and fans are still trawling over information from the 2-minute and 46-second teaser, but today, we got another official update as the release date for Volume 1 fast approaches. Posting on Instagram, Ross Duffer teased where we’re up to with post-production, writing:
“Chapters One and Two: locked, mixed, scored, colored, DONE.
“The Crawl” is our favorite, most eventful first episode since Season 1.
“The Vanishing of…” (yeah yeah you think you know who blah blah) has by far the craziest cold open we’ve ever done. One of the sequences we’re most proud of this season.
I would tell you runtimes, but I was told not to. At a later date, I guess ♂️”
We’ll come to why this post has sparked some discussion in a second, but let’s break down the post bit by bit.
Starting with the post-production update itself, and the various words and what they mean. When a project is locked, it means the edit is final and no further changes will be made to the sequence or timing of shots. Once closed, the focus shifts to audio and visuals. If something is mixed, the sound team has completed balancing dialogue, music, and effects into a final audio track. When a project is scored, the musical composition has been recorded and synced to the picture. After that, it’s colored, meaning the final color grading is done to ensure visual consistency and mood.
Then we come to the episode titles for chapters one and two, which Netflix revealed on Stranger Things Day 2024. Nothing too controversial, right? Wrong!
The controversy… or at the very least, let’s call it intense speculation, is regarding the title for episode 2. You see, the ending of chapter two’s title, at least officially, remains blurred out. That means we don’t know who is vanishing, although there’s plenty of evidence as to who it is. Based on leaks from early 2024 and plenty of other material (mostly leaked again) since, it’s widely believed that this is Holly Wheeler. From the teaser trailer, we got plenty of footage from what looks to be the Wheelers’ household.
On theory, published by one of the numerous accounts tracking all things Stranger Things, called Hawkins Happenings, has a theory as to what is teased for the cold open in episode 2, writing:
A Demogorgon breaks into the wheeler home toward the end of Episode 1, causing Ep2 to kick off with either Holly vanishing, or Karen on the way to the hospital.
Finally, Ross Duffer did suggest he could tell us the runtimes (something the creator had to address directly last week with bad actors sharing inflated and untrue runtimes online), but that Netflix wouldn’t let him.
Elsewhere in Stranger Things News…
There have been lots of reveals and tidbits released about Netflix’s upcoming merchandise plans for season 5, which seem substantial. Fans have discovered new Funko Pop Vinyls on the way, collaborations with cereal, candy, and cookie makers.
Matthew Modine teased Stranger Things: Catalyst on his Instagram feed several days ago, writing, “Oh! What’s this mystery? What’s this magic?” It’s referring to a new experience that Netflix is partnering with Sandbox VR for late 2025 (they’ve previously partnered for Rebel Moon and Squid Game), with the experience taking you to various locations across Hawkins.
Fans also noticed that the WSQK phone number changes its message when you call. Previously, a poster for the show featured a number that, when dialed, connected you to Hawkins PD voicemail requesting information on the whereabouts of Jane Hopper.
Finally, this weekend, David Harbour appeared at the Tampa Bay Comic Convention and teased multiple things about the forthcoming final season. Summarized, he said that Stranger Things season 5 will be an emotional, multi-dimensional journey that brings satisfying conclusions to the characters, especially focusing on Hopper’s relationships with Joyce and Eleven, both of which will receive meaningful and rewarding payoffs.
Stranger Things 5 is coming to Netflix in three parts: Volume 1 (Episodes 1-4) on November 26th, followed by Volume 2 (Episodes 5-7) on Christmas Day, and the Finale (Episode 8) on New Year’s Eve. Each volume releases at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET. For those in Europe and Asia, you will need to add a day to the dates listed.
Rating: TV-MA
