Stranger Things season 5 is gearing up to be the television event of the century. Set 18 months after the shocking finale to season 4, Netflix’s hit sci-fi horror show will follow the heroes of Hawkins as they continue their search for Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), who invades Earth with his monsters from the Upside Down.
The trailers for Stranger Things 5 have been very vague about what the show has in store for audiences. The military occupies, the kids battle the Demogorgons, and Vecna makes his long-awaited return from hiding. With the show’s return just weeks away, here are some predictions on what will occur in the final season.
Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) little sister, Holly (Nell Fisher), seems to have a more prominent role this season, and it seems pretty clear how she’ll get involved in their battle with Vecna. One trailer for Stranger Things 5 shows a Demogorgon appearing from a Gate on the ceiling. Another trailer depicts Holly and her mother, Karen (Cara Buono), hiding in a bathtub filled with water, holding their breath beneath the surface as if trying not to be seen or heard.
Vecna may go after Mike and Nancy’s family next. Nancy is seen in one trailer crying and washing blood off her hands. Coming across a family member mangled and bloodied by a Demogorgon would surely rattle her that much.
Since his time in the Upside Down, Will (Noah Schnapp) has had a strong psychic link to Vecna and everything else infected by the Mind Flayer. This has allowed Vecna to take control of Will’s mind in season 2, making him serve as his spy.
Given how wounded Vecna was after the season 4 finale, he may need a new body to sustain himself or regain his full strength. Thus, Vecna may exploit his connection to Will, possess him, and continue his war with Hawkins.
After all these years, Stranger Things has never shown the Upside Down outside of Hawkins. This dimension looked completely unique before Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) first made contact with the Demogorgon in season 1.
It is likely that this alternate world exists inside its own bubble forged at the start of the series. A trailer for season 5 does depict two characters approaching a massive, fleshy wall in the Upside Down, and the location could be the very edge of this parallel world.
Will is expected to have a much bigger role in Stranger Things season 5. Given his mental link to Vecna, it stands to reason that he will play a crucial part in finding and defeating the psychic villain. It was reported that some shots in season 5 will be presented through a Demogorgon’s point of view (or “Demo-vision”).
It is likely that Will uses his power to see through the beast’s eyes (wherever they are) as it goes on the hunt for his friends. Will could also use the Demogorgon’s eyes to spy on Vecna and locate him.
Stranger Things season 2 introduced Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) as one of the two children from Hawkins Lab not killed by Vecna. Though she reunited with Eleven in Pittsburgh, Kali has yet to reappear in the series after the latter returned to Hawkins years ago.
Very few fans enjoyed Kali and Eleven’s reunion episode. However, Stranger Things has a reason to bring them back together in the best way in season 5. Eleven could call her “sister” to help level the playing field in the war against Vecna. She could also use her powers to help Eleven close the massive Gate that ripped through Hawkins, ending the Upside Down’s invasion of Hawkins.
Stranger Things established that Vecna absorbs the consciousness of whoever he kills. The teenagers he killed in season 4 are put on display in his hellish layer. Though Max (Sadie Sink) is still alive, she was dead for a brief time. Eleven couldn’t even connect with her mind in the Void.
Season 4 implied that Max’s consciousness isn’t in her body and that Vecna assimilated it while she was dead. Eleven may have to venture into Vecna’s hive mind once again in season 5 to rescue Max and wake her from her coma.
If Max’s consciousness is trapped in Vecna’s hive mind, chances are that the several other dead people are in there as well. Stranger Things has the opportunity to bring back beloved characters like Barb (Shannon Purser), Bob (Sean Astin), Chrissy (Grace Van Dien), and Eddie (Joseph Quinn) by having them appear in Vecna’s mind with Max.
Though it would be a delight to see these characters brought back to the show, their appearances could be more than just pure fan service. They could help characters like Nancy, Joyce (Winona Ryder), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) gain closure with the people they couldn’t save should Vecna try to attack their minds and exploit their guilt.
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?