Stranger Things Fans Are Predicting Season 5 Character Deaths

Stranger Things Season 5 will be the final season of the mega-hit Netflix series. Before the final season debuts this year, Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have been letting fans know that all bets are off when it comes to character survival. Apparently the fandom has heard that proclamation loud and clear, because Stranger Things fan chat threads are lighting up with theories and wagers about which characters in the main cast will die in Season 5.

The biggest game of chess being played in the Stranger Things chat threads is predicting the logic of the Duffer Brothers’ storytelling in Season 5 by looking back at the previous seasons before it. There are certain trends in the seasonal storyline of Stranger Things that fans can now spot, clear as day. One of them is the introduction (and eventual elimination) of new supporting characters, like Billy, Bob, Eddie, and (sort of) Max. We already know that Stranger Things 5 will be adding actress Amybeth McNulty (Anne with an E) for an expanded role as “Vickie,” the marching band girl at Hawkins High School who becomes Robin’s (Maya Hawke) crush, even though she has a boyfriend. The Season 4 ended on a ‘will they, won’t they?’ vibe with Vickie and Robin – which is a pretty big death flag for Vickie if history (Barb) is any teacher. There’s a theory that Robin and Vickie could end up being a major surprise kill, with Robin sacrificing herself for Vickie. Maya Hawke is a major fan-favorite actor of the series, and killing her off would be a major twist that hit fans with genuine emotional impact.

The other new addition to the cast for the final season will be Linda Hamilton (Terminator), whose role in the show is being kept secret. If we know Hamilton, it’s more likely that she would sly, than be slain, unless she is appearing as some kind of pivotal character (now dead) in flashback.

Which Main Characters Will Die In Stranger Things 5?

The returning cast of Stranger Things includes Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Cara Buono, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel/Vecna/One.

Right now, the biggest focus (and betting money) is for Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven to be the big high-stakes character death of the final season. Brown has seen her career blow wide open since getting her breakout in Stranger Things (way back in 2016). There have been several behind-the-scenes instances (interviews, etc.) that suggest Brown could be ready to close the door on Eleven for good, thereby freeing herself from any further obligations to address fan theories or questions, once the series ends. A moving and epic death scene would do the trick of cementing the finality of Brown’s arc as the character.

Of course, major franchise IPs like Stranger Things are typically gunshy about closing doors so firmly. A popular theory is that Stranger Things won’t kill Eleven off, but rather require her to make the “sacrifice” of remaining in the Upside Down, to safeguard the passageway between the worlds – a thematic inverse of Vecna’s role.

[RELATED: Stranger Things Character Confirms Return for Final Season (Despite Being Dead)]

If Eleven isn’t the grand sacrifice that happens in the climactic battle of Stranger Things, there are other viable options. Joe Keery’s Steve Harrington and David Harbour’s Jim Hopper are two fan-favorite heroic male characters whose deaths have been major concerns going into every new season. With the final season now upon us, a lot of fans think the Duffers are going to deliver the blow of taking out Steve, Jim, or both, in order to make any kind of final victory a bittersweet one. With Harbour’s increasingly busy film career, ending the fakeouts with a real death for Hopper would almost be a punchline.

On a much, much, lower level, some fans think Stranger Things will bring it full circle and actually kill off Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). Season 1 was a race against the clock to save Will, but given the character’s complicated place in the storyline now (unrequited love for his bestie) and some of the behind-the-scenes controversy between Schnapp and the fandom over the last year (global politics), it could very well be Will’s time to go.

Less likely to die are characters are the Hawkins Gang mainstays like Mike (Wolfhard), Dustin (Matarazzo), Lucas (McLaughlin), or Nancy (Natalia Dyer), as the point of the show seems to be examining the maturation and coming-of-age of these characters, in particular. Second-tier characters like Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers, or Charlie Heaton’s Jonathan Byers seem like safer bets to survive the final season, as their deaths would be impactful to the characters, but not the audience.

Who do you think will make it out of Stranger Things‘s final season alive?