Since season 1, fans have been wondering: why Will Byers was he kidnapped in theUpside Down ? As the series draws to a close, the first five minutes of season 5freshly published by Netflix, finally begins an explanation. Will’s kidnapping was no accident, but the beginning of a much more sinister plan.
Vecna grabs Will in the Upside Down: a chilling opening scene
The excerpt opens with a rejuvenated Will, hunted in the darkness of the Upside Down. He attempts to flee the Demogorgon, but ends up being captured and taken to the lair of Vecna. The latter entwines him with his vines before injecting a strange substance into his mouth using a tentacle. Will, visibly terrified, can only endure.
The dialogues leave no room for doubt. Vecna whispers to him: “You’re going to help me… one… last… time,” before concluding: “Finally. We can begin. You and I are going to accomplish such beautiful things together, William. Such beautiful things.”
This shocking scene suggests that Will was not just a witness to the Upside Down, but a central pawn in a larger plan for domination. A fusional and involuntary bond now seems to unite him and Vecna.
The Duffer brothers promise answers about the Upside Down and Will’s kidnapping
In an interview given to Entertainment Weekly, Matt Duffer confirms that this season will provide the answers fans have been waiting for: “I think the two biggest questions that we didn’t really answer in Season 1, but that we’re tackling this season, are: what is the Upside Down, really? And why was Will taken?”
He adds: “We’re really revealing everything about the Upside Down, and this has all been planned since Season 1.” To better understand the issues, Ross Duffer also recommends rewatching episode 6 of season 2, entitled “The Spy”where Will already seems linked to the creatures of the Upside Down.
Release dates: a final season in three parts
Stranger Things season 5 will be released in three parts :
- Volume 1 (episodes 1 to 4) : November 26, 2025, 5 p.m. (Thanksgiving)
- Volume 2 (episodes 5 to 7) : December 25, 2025, 5 p.m. (Christmas)
- Finale (episode 8) : December 31, 2025, 5 p.m. (New Year), simultaneously on Netflix and in more than 350 cinemas in the United States.
The final episodes are shaping up to be a complete homage to the beginnings of the series. The action begins in the fall of 1987, on the anniversary of Will’s disappearance. Hawkins is in military quarantine, Eleven is in hiding again, and the hunt for Vecna mobilizes all the heroes in a final battle announced as the darkest and most decisive of the series.