(Credits: Netflix)

Is it just us, or did you also think that it’s strange how a two-minute trailer can feel heavier than an entire season? The Stranger Things 5 trailer sure teased the finale, but it also set off a week-long panic online until the first five minutes arrived on November 7th.

Hawkins is gone, and the sky looks dark. Even the upside-down looks redder. You can say that every frame feels like a goodbye, but it also leaves behind a trail of questions that we all need answers to.

After three long years of waiting, this first proper look at Season 5 has confirmed one thing: that the Duffers aren’t holding anything back. And the trailer doesn’t tease fun or nostalgia anymore, either. It looks like the part of the story where people stop running and start accepting that not everyone’s making it out.

The trailer doesn’t reveal much, but it doesn’t need to. It’s all in the details, and that’s what the Duffers are known for. For every answer it pretends to give, it raises two more questions that keep fans rewinding the footage frame by frame.

Fans have been replaying this trailer since it dropped, trying to catch a clue, a frame, anything. What’s real? What’s a misdirection? And what are they still hiding? The more you watch, the more questions it leaves behind. So, as the countdown to November 26th begins, here are seven questions the Stranger Things 5 trailer left hanging.

Seven questions we need answered after the trailer

Has Hawkins completely merged with the Upside Down?

From the looks of it, yes, and that’s exactly what terrifies us. The trailer shows familiar Hawkins landmarks buried under ash and vines, like the two worlds have finally collapsed into one twisted version of home. We have seen the borders thinning since season two, but now? It feels like the Upside Down isn’t slowing down anymore… what we feared is here.

What’s interesting is how casual some shots make it look, like the residents have adjusted to this hellish normal. That is something which didn’t make sense in the trailer, but we’re sure it will in the show. It raised questions like, are we watching the aftermath of a full merge, or is this just Vecna’s grand illusion? Either way, Hawkins isn’t just the battleground anymore. This time, it might be the monster itself.

Is Vecna the mastermind, or just another pawn of something larger?

The thing here is that Vecna has always felt like the big bad. And why not? He has got everything from the voice to the flair for drama, and making teenagers relive their worst memories is like it’s his hobby. But the trailer hints that maybe he is not the one pulling all the strings. There is a moment, blink and you’ll miss it, where the atmosphere feels bigger than Vecna himself, almost like he is answering to something far worse.

And that’s what makes this question so haunting. If Vecna isn’t the final villain, then who or what has been manipulating everything since Will’s first disappearance? Every season, the monsters get stronger, and yet the mystery behind the Upside Down’s true ruler keeps deepening. Maybe Vecna’s just another cursed soul caught in a hierarchy of horror, which, honestly, is even scarier.

What really happened with Henry Creel in the past?

Henry Creel’s story has always felt like an unfinished horror novel. Sure, we have read the most terrifying chapters, but the ending is yet to reveal itself. The trailer flashes back to the Creel house again, teasing that we might finally uncover what went down before Henry became Vecna. And the makers have to reveal that. But every new clue only makes things murkier. Was he born with his powers, or did something in that house awaken them?

The Creel mystery isn’t just about Henry; it’s the spine of the entire Stranger Things mythology. His connection to the Upside Down and his obsession with power might explain everything or nothing at all. If season five really wants to tie the story together, the answers probably start (and end) with the boy who once stood in that living room surrounded by flickering lights.

What role does the government play now that Hawkins is under lockdown?

The trailer clearly gives us glimpses of military trucks, sealed borders, and lots and lots of soldiers, so clearly the government is involved. It looks like Hawkins has officially become a no-go zone, which raises the question: who’s really in charge now? The government’s been meddling since Eleven’s first escape, but this time, their silence feels more suspicious.

Are they containing the danger or covering it up? Because if Hawkins has truly merged with the Upside Down, someone somewhere had to authorise those experiments that made it possible. The show has always loved blurring the line between science and secrecy, and it feels like season five might finally reveal whether the real villains were in the labs all along.

Will we finally learn what the Upside Down actually is?

If there’s one mystery that’s haunted fans since season one, it’s this. The Upside Down has always been the show’s biggest riddle. A world that mirrors Hawkins but stays frozen in time, filled with monsters and what seems like dust. The trailer shows glimpses of it again, but this time, it feels… sentient. Like it’s not just a place, but something that knows its visitors.

Well, the Duffer brothers have clearly stated that season five will finally lift the curtain on what the Upside Down really is. Whatever the truth, it’s the question that ties every missing kid and every flickering light together. And after eight years of guessing, we have earned at least one honest answer.

Who won’t make it out alive this time?

This is the one question we’ve all been dreading for a long while. Most of us have been in denial about it, but deep down we know one of our favourites is going to die. It’s been building up for seasons the way these characters throw themselves into danger; someone was bound to run out of luck eventually.

And while that felt inevitable, the internet has collectively decided on one thing: it better not be Steve Harrington. The trailer shows him missing in a few crucial moments, which only adds to the paranoia. He has been the group’s heart for a while now, and fans are clinging to hope that the Duffers won’t break us right before the final credits roll.

Where did Steve disappear to halfway through the trailer?

Continuing the discussion, we saw halfway through the trailer, Steve just vanished. Sure, the teaser opened with him, but this was THE trailer. Just a glimpse of Dustin hugging him, which again we saw in the teaser, and that’s it. And that’s suspicious, especially for someone who’s always front and centre when things go wrong. The internet has already noticed, and theories range from secret missions to, well, death flags.

But that disappearance feels too intentional to ignore. Either Steve has been given a separate arc, maybe a solo mission in the Upside Down, or the creators are hiding something major. Whatever it is, his absence adds a strange unease to every other shot. Because if Stranger Things has taught us anything, it’s that when Steve Harrington goes missing, something bad is about to happen.