Netflix is releasing the final season of Stranger Things in a way that’s turned it into a huge, months-long event. Instead of releasing all episodes at once, they’ve split the fifth season into three parts, letting the story unfold over time. The first part came out in November, and excitement has been building ever since. Now, everything is leading up to a final, movie-length episode that will premiere in theaters and on Netflix on New Year’s Eve.
Warning: Spoilers below for Stranger Things 5, Volume 2
As a huge fan, it’s honestly a little overwhelming trying to keep up with everyone! With Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) finally ready to make his move, our heroes from Hawkins are spread out all over the place – even in different dimensions! What started as a local mystery has become this massive, multi-sided war, and it’s tough to know what’s happening with each character. Before the series ends, I wanted to put together a clear picture of where everyone is and what they’re fighting for as they try to prevent total destruction.
1) Vecna, Holly, and the Kidnapped Children
The main villain of Stranger Things, Vecna, isn’t actually living in the Upside Down. Recent episodes have shown his true lair is a desolate dimension called the Abyss – a rocky, dusty wasteland where Eleven originally banished him back in 1979. He’s currently holding twelve children captive there, including Holly Wheeler, who briefly escaped into the Upside Down before Vecna pulled her back with his powers.
Vecna has kidnapped these children to use them as a source of power for his ultimate plan. He’s put them in a deep, shared trance to collect their psychic energy, which he needs to merge our dimension with the terrifying realm of the Abyss. His goal is to force the Abyss through the Upside Down and crash it into Earth, breaking down the walls between realities. This would unleash chaos and allow his world to take over our own. As the final battle begins, Vecna is hiding within the Abyss, using the children’s energy to bring the two worlds closer and closer to destruction.
2) Eleven, Kali, and Hopper
To defeat Vecna, Jim Hopper is taking two incredibly powerful psychics to the Upside Down version of Hawkins Lab. Their goal is to reach a special tank inside the lab that will boost Eleven’s psychic powers, letting her project her mind into a dangerous realm to fight Vecna. Kali is helping Eleven, and will enter the tank with her to offer support during the mental battle.
The group is fractured by hidden truths and a lack of trust. Hopper doesn’t trust Kali, and his suspicions are valid. What Hopper doesn’t know is that Kali has persuaded Eleven to make a devastating agreement: a suicide pact. Kali believes that as long as they live, the military will pursue them to create biological weapons. Their plan is to kill Vecna and then let the Upside Down collapse around them, permanently denying the government access to their abilities. Hopper is fiercely protective of Eleven, but he has no idea she’s already resigned to the fact that this mission is likely a one-way trip.
3) Will and Joyce
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is now using his difficult experiences to fight back, bravely joining his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder), as they face the danger together. He’s discovered he can not only sense the hive mind, but also actively connect with it, and is going into the Upside Down to help defeat Vecna. His plan is to find a painful memory from Henry Creel’s past within the hive mind and force Vecna to relive it, creating a distraction that will allow his friends to attack.
Will is feeling much better and more focused than he has in years, now that he’s shared his truth with his loved ones. By letting go of the secret Vecna was using against him, he’s taken away the villain’s power over his mind. He’s now a key player in the fight, with unique insight into how Vecna thinks and operates.
4) Dustin, Steve, Robin, Mike, Lucas, Nancy, Jonathan, and Murray
Most of the heroes from Hawkins are now trapped in the Upside Down, riding in a delivery truck driven by Murray Bauman. Alongside those facing psychic attacks, the group includes Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Mike Wheeler, and Lucas Sinclair. They broke into the MAC-Z military base and entered the portal as part of a risky plan led by Steve.
Their plan hinges on Vecna completing the dimensional merge. They’re waiting for the Abyss to get close enough to the Upside Down to use the alternate dimension’s radio tower as a gateway to Vecna’s world. Once they can cross over, they aim to rescue the twelve children who were taken, while the psychics keep Vecna occupied. If they manage to free the prisoners, Dustin has a backup plan: detonate a bomb near the exotic matter in the lab, which should collapse the wormhole and destroy the Upside Down for good.
5) Max
Most of the team has entered Vecna’s mind, but Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) stayed behind at the radio station, Squawk. Still recovering from a coma and using a wheelchair, Max is physically weak, but her mind is incredibly focused. She spent months trapped inside Henry Creel’s thoughts, giving her a unique understanding of how his mind works. Now, she’s guiding the team – specifically Eleven – through the dangerous landscape of Vecna’s mind, acting as their navigator. Because Max escaped Vecna’s control once before, her knowledge of his mental world is essential, and could be the key to the team’s survival.
6) Erica and Mr. Clarke
Erica Sinclair and Mr. Clarke are providing crucial behind-the-scenes support for the operation. From a surveillance tower near MAC-Z, they’re monitoring the situation and keeping an eye on military activity and the portal’s stability. They were key to getting Murray’s truck inside by hacking the gate systems, and now they’re acting as lookouts, alerting the team to any approaching government forces while they’re in the alternate dimension.
7) Dr. Kay and Lt. Akers
In the fifth season of Stranger Things, the human villains are relentlessly chasing the heroes, focused on retrieving their valuable subjects, even with the world facing destruction. Dr. Kay (Linda Hamilton) was last seen at the MAC-Z base, battling the Hawkins group as they escaped. She’s almost certainly following them into the Upside Down, because her main goal is to capture Eleven and continue the government’s secret program involving people with psychic abilities.
As things were unfolding, I learned that Lieutenant Akers and his team were already inside the Upside Down. He’d been sent to check out the damage around Hawkins Lab and quickly figured out that Eleven and the others had somehow broken through. The last we saw of him, he was getting his soldiers ready to stop them, completely oblivious to the fact that he was heading straight into a battle between Eleven and, well, a seriously powerful monster from another dimension. It was a really tense moment, knowing what was about to happen to him!
Who do you predict will win the ultimate showdown with Vecna? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!
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2025-12-28 00:43