Netflix drops first five minutes of Stranger Things final season

Fans of Stranger Things were treated to an unexpected surprise on 6 November as Netflix unveiled the opening five minutes of the show's eagerly awaited fifth and final season. The clip, revealed on YouTube shortly after the Los Angeles premiere, revisits the chilling origins of the series following the 1983 disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp).

The first episode, titled The Crawl, opens with a young Will trapped in the Upside Down, softly singing The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go to steady his nerves. The calm is short-lived when a Demogorgon attacks, sending Will tumbling from a tree before he's dragged unconscious into the lair of the sinister Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). In a chilling moment, Vecna whispers: "At long last, we can begin. You and I, we are going to do such beautiful things together."

Season 5 will be released in two volumes — Volume 1 on 26 November and Volume 2 on 25 December — culminating with the series finale on 31 December. Set in the autumn of 1987, the final chapter finds Hawkins under military quarantine as the gang reunites for one last mission: to hunt down Vecna and end the nightmare once and for all.