The trailer for Stranger Things season 5 bristles with set pieces and jolting moments — yet several of those beats don’t appear in the first four episodes, which were released on November 26, 2025. In response, a fan on X stitched together a makeshift Volume 2 trailer from the unused trailer footage; after watching Volume 1, many of those snippets land with fresh significance. Below are the likely developments heading into the second half of the final season, which resumes on December 25, 2025.
[Ed. note: Major spoilers follow for the first half of Stranger Things season 5.]Combined all the scenes we haven’t seen in vol 1 from the trailers pic.twitter.com/vIVb6kNHdZ
— Matthew (@Crazy2gether) November 29, 2025
One striking shot shows Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) screaming “Run.” That moment likely connects to his emerging ability to tap into the Upside Down’s collective awareness — he could be physically restraining attacking creatures to buy his friends time, or he might be issuing a warning after glimpsing Vecna’s vantage point.
Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) utters the word “forever” while speaking with Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), which suggests he may be preparing to use the ring Murray gave him to propose. Soon after, the pair witness lightning tearing open a massive rift — hardly the romantic fireworks Jonathan would have hoped for when planning a proposal.
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) appears to escape the Upside Down: we see her in a wetsuit, sharing a poignant moment with Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) before entering a sensory-deprivation tub for remote viewing. Jonathan and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) are also shown embracing in the real world, indicating they make it back. By contrast, a brief image of what looks like Robin (Maya Hawke) being consumed by an otherworldly tree is among the few trailer shots not yet shown in Volume 1 — a chilling beat that raises real concern.
Another distressing sequence shows Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) carrying Max (Sadie Sink), who remains unconscious. It appears Vecna learned Max interfered with his designs for Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) and dispatched monsters to seize her body. Lucas later hides from Demodogs in a hospital alongside candy striper Vickie Dunne (Amybeth McNulty), who gets a first-hand lesson in why Robin repeatedly cancels their dates.
Other ominous imagery includes an Upside Down rendition of Hawkins National Laboratory — which Dustin has identified as a focal point of the dark world — and a towering burst of red energy that shifts to blue as Jim Hopper (David Harbour) watches, a possible hint that the tide may be turning. Yet darkness still coils around the radio tower and floating rocks drift amid red lightning, underscoring that danger is far from over.
Source: Polygon
