The Stranger Things finale trailer has dropped – and fans are worried about one beloved character

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Volumes 1 and 2 of Stranger Things 5.

As the reaction to Stranger Things 5: Volume 2 continues following its release on Christmas Day (Boxing Day in the UK), fans of the hit Netflix drama have been given another shock (jock) in the form of the trailer for the finale dropping on New Year’s Eve/Day.

Released on Tuesday afternoon, the 90-second trailer begins with Hopper (David Harbour) telling Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) that he needs her to “fight one last time”.

He continues: “Life has been so unfair to you. Your childhood was taken from you, you’ve been attacked – manipulated – by terrible people, but you’ve never let it break you.

“Fight for the days on the other side of this. Fight for a world beyond Hawkins.”

Scenes in the trailer also appear to see Eleven and the team acting out their grand plan to stop Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), which was revealed in Volume 2 to involve letting Vecna bring the ‘Abyss’ (previously referred to as Dimension X) through the bridge of the Upside Down to Hawkins, and using the WSQK radio tower when it’s close enough to enter a rift.

Eleven would then use her “meditation” skills in the bath (a tank is seen in the trailer) in the Hawkins Lab in the Upside Down to enter Vecna’s mind and kill him, before a bomb hits the exotic matter (the red orb Nancy shot at in the Upside Down) and severs the Upside Down bridge and the Abyss.

All of this stems from Volume 2’s reveal that the Upside Down isn’t an alternative dimension, but rather a wormhole to the Abyss or Dimension X, to which a younger Eleven banished Henry Creel and turned him into Vecna.

The trailer also appears to show Hawkins Lab exploding, Hopper is seen holding a gun with Vecna lurking in the background, and the video ends with a sky full of red lightning crashing down onto a radio tower in the Upside Down – with Dustin simply saying “mother of God”.

Though it’s Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) which fans are worried about, as the same video also sees someone holding back the character while he looks visibly emotional, with viewers reminded of Dustin’s plea to Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) not to die as he still grieves the loss of Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) from the last series.

“Dustin screaming and being held back is really scaring me it better not be a main character dying,” one YouTube account commented.

Another wrote: “Now I’m scared.”

And over on X/Twitter, one person tweeted that they are “not liking this shot”, attaching the aforementioned image from the trailer:

But some have also pointed out a lack of Will (Noah Schnapp) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard) in the trailer:

All will be revealed when the final episode releases on New Year’s Eve/Day…

Why not read…?

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