Everything we thought we knew about the Upside Down has been, well, upside down. At least that’s what a bloodied, defeated-looking Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) says in the new trailer for Stranger Things 5, Volume 2.
In the final season’s second chapter, which premieres on Christmas Day with three episodes, our heroes race against the clock to unravel Hawkins’s darkest secrets. “We failed,” Will (Noah Schnapp) tells Joyce (Winona Ryder). “We never stood a chance.” His mom, taking him in his arms, disagrees. “It’s not over,” Joyce says. “Not by a long shot.” And, indeed, the two-minute trailer delivers thrill after thrill, from a fight-to-the-death pact between Dustin and Steve (Joe Keery) to an electrocuted (!) Demogorgon.
Then, of course, there’s the question of how Will’s going to channel his mysterious new powers, which were revealed at the end of Volume 1.
“We’ve always known that Will has a connection to Vecna and the Upside Down,” says co-creator, executive producer, writer, and director Ross Duffer. “In Season 2, we started to delve into it, but one of the earliest ideas in the new season is, ‘What if Will were able to harness this connection and use it against our villains?’ We also felt it very natural to re-center the story on Will. He was the kid who was taken in Season 1, so it felt right for the story to come full circle. If anyone [was] going to be the key to ending Vecna, it needed to be Will.” (Check out the Duffer Brothers’ full breakdown of Volume 1’s ending here.)
According to Matarazzo, Will’s powers will “change the game” for the Hawkins teens. “I think that puts us on more of [an even] playing field. I’m sure that’s objectively terrifying to Vecna.” As Finn Wolfhard (Mike) puts it, “We have two Elevens.”
In the trailer’s final moments, Vecna creeps closer as he declares that it’s time for a “new world.” Not if our friends have anything to say about that! Stay tuned for the epic conclusion.
The first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 are streaming now on Netflix, followed by Volume 2’s three episodes on Christmas Day and The Finale on New Year’s Eve. Each volume releases at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET. Find out when new episodes arrive in your part of the world here.
In the meantime, check out Tudum’s coverage of Volume 1 to learn more about Mr. Whatsit, Holly Wheeler, Derek Turnbow, and Erica Sinclair’s viral pie moment. Watch the cast react to Episode 4’s epic table read here, and test your knowledge of Stranger Things with our superfan quiz.
