Right now, Netflix is deep into production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, its hit '80s-themed sci-fi horror series from Matt and Ross Duffer. In the years after Game of Thrones ended on HBO, many television shows have vied to become the next cultural TV phenomenon, but of them all, Stranger Things might be the only that's actually in a comparable league. There's no understating how big this series is and how much it gets people talking, which means there's an awful lot of anticipation to see how it all wraps up in season 5.
But unlike Thrones, Stranger Things doesn't often kill off main characters, at least not from the core group which have been on the show since its opening episodes back in 2016. That includes the kids at the heart of the story: Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). It's not an exaggeration to say that those kids grew up on Stranger Things; many were barely over 10 years old when the series started, and are now into their early 20s.
We can only imagine how momentous it must feel for them to be putting a bow on Stranger Things after all these years. Wolfhard recently spoke with US Weekly about the experience of filming these final episodes of the series, saying that there's a feeling of "senioritis" on set, which is a pretty apt comparison to make for a series about a bunch of high school kids.
" really trying to be present with the character,” Wolfhard said. “I’ve just been very deliberate in the way that I treat coming onto set, just having as good of a time as we can since we know it’s the last season.”
As for what we can expect in season 5, Wolfhard wasn't about to go spoiling anything major. But he did tease that there will be “a lot of action sequences” in Stranger Things 5. It won't all be spectacle, though; after all, we'll be saying goodbye to characters we've known for nearly a decade at this point, so it's important to get the emotional beats right. Wolfhard promises “a really intimate season, but at the same time, a huge season, just in the scale of it.”
Finn Wolfhard has never seen a ghost, to his disappointment
Wolfhard has become one of the breakout stars of Stranger Things, appearing in movies like Ghostbusters and Stephen King's It. He talked a little bit more broadly about what attracts him to the horror genre.
"It’s a genre that I love as a viewer, because to me, if it’s a really good horror movie, it’s the perfect movie because it really gets a reaction out of you and makes you feel something, always,” Wolfhard said. “The way I feel after watching a good horror movie is different from the way I feel after watching a really good drama or anything else. It’s very visceral.”
Wolfhard had a fun reason for giving this interview in the first place: he's currently doing a campaign with Ring doorbell cameras where people are encouraged to make funny ghost videos with their cameras and submit them in honor of our current spooky season. That begets an obvious question: has Finn Wolfhard, star of multiple paranormal shows and movies, ever seen a ghost himself? Alas, to his great chagrin, he has not.
"I'm kind of annoyed that I haven’t had anything paranormal happen to me because of how many things I’ve done with horror and the supernatural,” Wolfhard said. “I feel like I’ve invited so many ghosts and spirits in, so I would think that if some kind of paranormal experience were to happen, it should happen soon.”
Here's hoping Finn Wolfhard gets to have a spooky experience of his own one of these days. In the meantime, filming continues on Stranger Things 5. No release date has yet been announced, but in September, Wolfhard's co-star Gaten Matarazzo said that a 2025 release is a "safe bet." Sometime in the next year, we'll see how it all ends for the crew from Hawkins, Indiana.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.