STRANGER THINGS Star Joe Keery Says Series Ending is "Bittersweet"

Netflix’s Stranger Things series has taken audiences on a wild, dark, creepy, and fun supernatural adventure. It’s a show that fans have enjoyed watching, and it’s filled with great characters that many of us connect with and love. Now the series is coming to an end with its upcoming fifth season, and Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington in the series, recently explained that the end of the series is going to be bittersweet.

During a panel at German Comic-Con, the actor explained: "It's going to be bittersweet, for sure. I think everybody's excited to start working again, but it'll be like the first time of a lot of last things, as well. It'll be very bittersweet."

The show is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s, and follows a group of friends as they investigate supernatural occurrences and government conspiracies as it plunges the small midwestern town into an apocalyptic nightmare. The series has been praised for its strong cast, engaging storylines, and nostalgic references to 1980s pop culture.

Stranger Things 5 will be the last time Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), and the rest of the Hawkins gang are all together for one last fight against the villainous Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). 

When previously describing Stranger Things 5, the writing team described the next chapter of the story “is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids."

While we don’t know much about what the story will entail, we do know that Will is going to be the "primary focus" of Season 5, as the final episodes "circle back to season one." Matt Duffer previously said: "We're starting to see his coming of age, really, which has been challenging for a number of reasons; some of which are supernatural. But you're starting to see him come into his own.”

Ross Duffer added: "I think you'll see that with a couple of the character arcs, not just with Will. But also with Steve and Nancy, and her relationship with Jonathan, where things are not fully resolved. The characters have maybe made steps, like in the case of Will, but that journey isn't over yet. All of that is going to play a huge role as we try to wrap this thing up next season."

Noah Schnapp also said: "I can just tell you that I'm very very excited for what's to come. I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to. The way they closed the show is just perfect -- the story started with Will, and it'll end with Will."

Now, just because the Stranger Things is ending, it doesn’t mean the franchise is ending. Netflix has ordered an animated spin-off series, and the Duffers teased that "there are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes."

Stranger Things 5 is expected to premiere in 2024 on Netflix.