Stranger Things Season 5 brings back all the cast and characters we know and love, plus adds quite a few more into the mix. Speaking in an interview with SFX Magazine, the Duffer brothers acknowledged that this was something of a risk. “We had so many of those discussions, with this being the final season, that we need to keep our focus on the core characters,” Matt observed, before explaining that all these new characters serve an essential purpose – one that will become clear after watching Season 5.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The pressure is certainly on for Stranger Things Season 5 to land well, bringing a triumphant close to a decade’s worth of storytelling. Every character’s arc needs to be wrapped up; while there’s a Stranger Things animated spinoff in the works, Season 5 is officially the end of the road. So here’s all you need to know about the show’s returning cast and characters.
Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna
Stranger Things Season 4 deliberately concealed the identity of the actor playing Vecna, treating it as a major twist. Retconned as Stranger Things‘ true villain all along, Vecna is a dark mirror of Eleven, in complete control of the Upside Down and now using it to launch an invasion of Earth. He’s played by the English actor Jamie Campbell Bower, in a role that now requires substantial makeup and prosthetics.
Also seen in:
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven
Stranger Things has made Millie Bobby Brown’s career. The young actress was only 12 years old when she played the powerful telepath and telekinetic Eleven in Stranger Things Season 1, and she’s become a household name. She’s set to star in this final season, with Eleven having regained her powers – and then some. The stage is set for one last battle between Eleven and Vecna, the two Hawkins kids.
Also seen in:
Noah Schnapp as Will Byers
Noah Schnapp’s professional career began when he voiced Charlie Brown in 2015’s The Peanuts Movie, but he’s experienced a meteoric rise thanks to Stranger Things; he’s become a social media star, with 4.51 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Schnapp’s character Will Byers is famed for going missing in Season 1, but Will has become ever more important as the series continues, complete with a mysterious psychic bond to the Upside Down. Will has been described as the heart of Stranger Things Season 5, which will presumably continue the story of Will’s coming out even as it balances the ongoing cosmic drama.
Also seen in:
Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler
Hailing from Vancouver, British Colombia, Finn Wolfhard is best known for playing Mike Wheeler. Frequently a leader figure among the Hawkins kids, Mike’s childhood crush on Eleven has blossomed into love, although he’s still developing the maturity to handle his intense feelings. Season 4 saw Mike confront his own immaturity head-on, and he’s in a much better place to support Eleven for the final battle.
Also seen in:
Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson
Italian-American actor Gaten Matarazzo started his career on Broadway, but has hit global fame courtesy of Stranger Things. Matarazzo has cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD), a rare genetic condition affecting bone and teeth development, and this has been written into Dustin’s own story. The most faithful and adventurous of the Hawkins kids, Dustin has been forced to grow up after the death of his close friend, Eddie, at the end of Stranger Things Season 4. Stranger Things has often focused on the impact and consequences of trauma, and this will surely be a major theme in Season 5.
Also seen in:
- Waffles + Mochi
- Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain
- LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy
Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair
Round out the OG Hawkins kids, Caleb McLaughlin is an actor, singer, and dancer, trained in ballet, tap, and dance. McLaughlin had already made his small screen debut in an episode of Law & Order: SVU, but Stranger Things has undoubtedly been his highest profile role to date. Lucas has had a more complex journey than his fellow nerds, trying to fit in with the jocks in Season 4 but eventually finding his way back to his childhood friends – and his beloved Max, who was left in a coma after Vecna’s final attack on her.
Also seen in:
Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield
The delightful Max Mayfield made her Stranger Things debut in Season 2, when her family moved to Hawkins. She’s paid a terrible price for living in Hawkins, with her stepbrother dying in Season 3, and her mother now struggling with alcoholism. Max was targeted by Vecna himself in Season 4, and was left in a coma after her near-death gave him enough power to tear open his final gate from the Upside Down. She’s played by Sadie Sink, whose meteoric rise will soon see her join the MCU in an undisclosed role in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Also seen in:
Joe Keery as Steve Harrington
Steve was originally supposed to die in Stranger Things Season 1, but the Duffer brothers rewrote the character after Joe Keery was cast for the role, realizing he was too good to waste. Steve has evolved into something of a big brother figure for the Hawkins kids, and he’s part of the series’ most famous love triangle, still clearly besotted with Nancy. One of Stranger Things‘ most loved heroes, viewers are eager for Steve to have the happy ending he deserves.
Also seen in:
Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler
Natalie Dyer’s career began in 2009’s Hannah Montana: The Movie, but she hit the big time through Stranger Things, and has gone from strength to strength. Nancy has grown a lot since her debut in Season 1, becoming noted for her heroism and inquisitive nature; she was the one who figured out Vecna’s backstory in Season 4, and she’s sure to be on the front lines in the battle against the Upside Down. Nancy is caught up in Stranger Things‘ most popular love triangle, with Steve and Jonathan vying for her heart.
Also seen in:
Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers
Will’s older brother, Jonathan is something of a social outcast who got dragged into the strange goings-on of Hawkins after Will went missing in Season 1. Jonathan has been lost in Nancy’s shadow for most of Stranger Things, but Season 4 revealed how conflicted his heart truly is about her. He’ll have to decide whether to commit or not if he’s going to keep her, given the sparks flying between Nancy and Steve. Jonathan is played by English actor and musician Charlie Heaton, whose career on British TV has taken a step up thanks to Stranger Things.
Also seen in:
Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley
The daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Maya Hawke made her acting debut in 2017’s Little Women before making the jump to Stranger Things for Season 3. She plays Robin, a scatterbrained colleague of Steve’s who has become his closest friend. Robin wrestles with a secret that, at the time, would have made her a social outcast; she’s attracted to women, and struggles to figure out how to navigate this forbidden terrain.
As seen in:
David Harbour as Jim Hopper
American actor David Harbour got his own big break in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, and received praise for a number of smaller roles in TV and film until he was cast as Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. Hawkins’ police chief, Hopper hides a secret pain; his daughter died in tragic circumstances, and he’s still learning how to open up. Eleven entered his life as an unexpected blessing, a new adopted daughter, and he’s learning to admit his attraction to Joyce. Hopper was believed killed in Stranger Things Season 3, but was rescued in Season 4 and has now returned to Hawkins.
Also seen in:
Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers
Winona Ryder added star power to Stranger Things Season 1, and she’s flourished in the role of Joyce Byers, a single mom whose world was upended when her youngest son, Will, disappeared. Joyce has become Stranger Things‘ action hero, even traveling to Russia’s Kamchatka province to rescue Hopper in Season 4. There can be no doubt she’s at the center of Season 5, working hard to keep her family safe.
Also seen in:
Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman
Brett Gelman is a prolific TV actor who’s flourished in Stranger Things as Murray Bauman, a conspiracy theorist who originally seemed to be a “one and done” character – but who’s become a key member of the show’s cast. Murray’s instincts have come in very helpful indeed for the Hawkins kids, and he even accompanied Joyce to the USSR to help rescue Hopper from the Soviets in Season 4. No doubt the full occupation of Hawkins by the military has complicated Murray’s life.
Also seen in:
Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair
Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Priah Ferguson’s Erica Sinclair was originally something of a background character. Lucas’ little sister got drawn into the action in Stranger Things Season 3, adding another blast of childhood to the story given the main Hawkins kids were growing up fast. She’s an absolute force to be reckoned with, a smart and sassy genius who knows you can’t spell America without Erica.
Also seen in:
Other Cast & Character in Stranger Things Season 5
In addition, Stranger Things Season 5 features several new characters – and larger roles for some established background figures.
- Sci-fi legend Linda Hamilton (of The Terminator fame) will make her debut as Dr. Kay, a scientist attempting to unlock secrets of the Upside Down
- Alex Breaux (Clone, Echo Village, American Primeval) plays Lt. Robert Akers, a key member of Dr. Kay’s team
- Sherman Augustus (Extraction, The Accursed, Red Cargo) returns as Lt. Colonel Sullivan, a high-ranking member of the US military who hunted Eleven in Season 4
- Young actress Nell Fisher (Northspur, Bookworm, Evil Dead Rise) has been recast as Holly Wheeler, Mike’s younger sister, who will apparently have a major role
- Irish-Canadian actress Amybeth McNulty (Morgan, Anne with an E, All My Pun Sorrows) is Vickie, Robin’s love interest
- Cara Buono (Person of Interest, The Sopranos, Mad Men) returns as Karen Wheeler, Mike and Holly’s mom
- Newcomer Jake Connelly plays Derek Turnbow, one of Erica’s classmates
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Virgin Films -
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
Image courtesy of Monolith
