Stranger Things Season 5 Runtimes Revealed: Ross Duffer Confirms Episode Lengths and Teases What’s Coming

Ross Duffer, co-creator of Stranger Things, has finally given fans clarity on how long the episodes of the fifth and final season will be. After months of speculation that every episode would be feature-length, Duffer has officially revealed the runtimes for the first four episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 in a video shared on Instagram.

Episode Runtimes for Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1

According to Duffer, here’s how long each of the first four episodes will run:

• Episode 1 — “The Crawl”: 1 hour and 8 minutes

• Episode 2 — “The Vanishing of _____”: 54 minutes

• Episode 3 — “The Turnbow Trap”: 1 hour and 6 minutes

• Episode 4 — “Sorcerer”: 1 hour and 23 minutes

Duffer described The Crawl as his “favorite” and “most eventful first episode since Season 1.” He also teased that Episode 2 features “the craziest cold open we’ve ever done — one of the sequences we’re most proud of this season.”

Meanwhile, The Turnbow Trap is what Duffer called “the most classic Stranger Things-y episode of the season,” and it features a special surprise: legendary filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) came out of retirement to direct it.

As for Episode 4, Sorcerer, Duffer revealed it’s “MASSIVE — as big as any finale we’ve ever done, and the most logistically insane shoot of our lives.”

Stranger Things Season 5 Release Schedule

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things will include eight episodes total, arriving in three separate parts:

• Volume 1: November 26, 2025

• Volume 2: December 25, 2025

• Final Episode: December 31, 2025

The season will once again be produced by the Duffer Brothers, along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen, promising an emotional and cinematic conclusion to one of Netflix’s biggest shows.

Stranger Things Returning Cast and New Additions

Nearly all the core cast members will return, including Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Amybeth McNulty, who had a brief appearance last season, has been promoted to the main cast, while Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) joins as a major new character.

Stranger Things What to Expect from the Final Season

The story picks up in fall 1987, one year after the Season 4 finale. The group returns to Hawkins, determined to find and destroy Vecna once and for all after the rifts opened across town.

Their mission becomes even more dangerous when the U.S. military arrives in Hawkins and begins hunting Eleven. As the anniversary of Will Byers’ disappearance approaches, the gang faces a final, deadly confrontation that could decide the fate of their world.

Why Stranger Things 5 Will Be the Most Ambitious Yet

The Duffer Brothers have described Season 5 as their most emotional and visually ambitious chapter. With longer episodes, high-stakes storytelling, and a cinematic finale spread across three releases, this final season aims to give fans the epic conclusion they’ve been waiting for.

Stranger Things may be coming to an end, but if Ross Duffer’s words are any indication, it’s going out bigger than ever.