Netflix just dropped the first five minutes of Stranger Things Season 5—and fans are losing their minds over a chilling return to Hawkins’ darkest night. If you want to know exactly what those opening scenes revealed, strap in: it’s haunting, nostalgic, and sets the stage for a season unlike any other.
Stranger Things Season 5: Back to the Beginning—With a Twist
Season 5 kicks off not after the chaos of Season 4, but throws us headlong into a high-def flashback: November 12, 1983, the very night Will Byers first vanished. Noah Schnapp appears de-aged, shaken and exhausted—he’s hiding inside Castle Byers in the Upside Down, softly singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” the same song that once gave him hope during his first brush with terror in Hawkins. This familiar moment is shattered when the Demogorgon crashes the scene, sending Will running frantically through the twisted forest. But this time, there’s a huge twist: as Will cowers in terror, Vecna makes a sinister entrance, telling the boy, “At long last we can begin. You and I, we’re going to do such beautiful things together,” before the screen fades to black.
What It Means (And What’s Next)
The episode is titled “The Crawl,” and these jaw-dropping first minutes set the stage for a Hawkins scarred by the opening of the Rifts—military quarantine, Eleven in hiding, and a sinister new threat building as the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches. The Duffer brothers have confirmed that this season goes full throttle from the first second, ditching the slow buildup for instant supernatural chaos. As Hawkins reels from Vecna’s vanishing act and the town is locked down, fans get hints at an Upside Down mythology that finally pays off storylines seeded all the way back in Season 1.
Key points for fans:
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Title: Stranger Things 5, Episode 1 “The Crawl”
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First five minutes: Will alone in Upside Down, Demogorgon attack, Vecna encounter
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What’s new: Scene takes place in 1983, mirroring Will’s original disappearance but adding Vecna directly to the story
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Release: First four episodes drop November 26; next volume at Christmas, finale on New Year’s Eve
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Tone: Instant tension, big mythology reveals promised
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Catch it now: Netflix and official YouTube have released the full opening for fans to watch
If you thought Stranger Things couldn’t get darker, think again—the first five minutes promise a finale that’s going to rip Hawkins apart and finally answer all your burning Upside Down questions.
