Stranger Things season 5 is expected to include a time jump, and there are five intriguing theories about how the show might approach this particular challenge. Stranger Things is a global smash-hit series for Netflix, helping pave the way for the streaming giant’s increasingly strong catalog of original TV shows and movies. With Stranger Things season 5 getting closer every day, speculation about the series’ final season is rampant, covering every topic from character deaths to time jumps and making it more difficult than ever for the show to surprise viewers.
By the end of Stranger Things season 4, there is enough information out there for fans to make strongly informed predictions about the future of the series. This makes it more intriguing than ever to jump down a few Stranger Things rabbit holes and seek out the answers fans are anxiously awaiting in the show’s final season. Consequently, Stranger Things‘ first four seasons have been thoroughly dissected by the online community, leading to some truly riveting fan theories.
These theories are certainly not limited to speculation about Stranger Things season 5’s expected time jump, but this topic is one of the most thoroughly discussed on social media. According to the show’s creators, the Duffer brothers, a time jump is extremely likely in the show’s final season, mainly because Stranger Things‘ cast has outgrown the characters they portray. Not every theory about how this time jump will be handled is feasible, but there are five Stranger Things theories that provide a strong prediction concerning how the time jump will be executed.
One possibility for Stranger Things season 5’s time jump is that the show will actually make several time jumps, rather than just one. This strategy could work in a multitude of ways, such as making an immediate time jump when season 5 begins and then another later in the season. Alternatively, Stranger Things season 5 could potentially perform an early time jump before experimenting with time travel, as fans have speculated may occur.
The good thing about this theory is its flexibility. Stranger Things season 5 is likely to have a pretty complex plot, and using a more fluid timeline that can jump forward or backward more than once could give the show the extra bit of freedom it needs to make the story work. Further, the show could potentially set up different arcs in different time periods, allowing again for a bit more flexibility in the plot.
The negative side of this Stranger Things season 5 theory is that it might actually make the story more confusing than it needs to be. This strategy might allow for more flexibility in the story, but it could just as easily muddy the waters and make the plot more difficult to follow. If Stranger Things does opt for multiple time jumps, it should avoid doing more than two or three to reduce the chance of the story becoming overly convoluted.
Another popular theory about Stranger Things season 5’s time jump is that the show will actually be traveling back in time, not skipping forward. This intriguing theory suggests that the Stranger Things cast will have to travel back in time to prevent Hawkins from being consumed by Vecna. While the evidence for this theory is circumstantial, there is enough of it to make it compelling to consider as a possibility.
Firstly, Stranger Things has tackled some of the most popular movie tropes from the 1980s, and time travel is a fairly common one that has yet to crop up in the show. Further, Steve makes an intriguing comment to Nancy in Stranger Things season 4 about how he used to crawl backwards as a baby. The first episode of Stranger Things season 5 is titled “The Crawl,” which could be a reference to “crawling backward”, or in other words, traveling back in time.
Intriguing as the concept of time travel in Stranger Things is, the idea is somewhat contentious. Some fans see the concept as lazy, while others simply don’t think it fits the story. Regardless, this idea looks extremely unlikely to come to fruition unless there are multiple time jumps because there are several set pieces found in behind-the-scenes photos from Stranger Things season 5 that suggest the show has moved forward at least a year.
One of the stronger theories about Stranger Things‘ time jump is that it will occur midway through the season, allowing the show to explore the fallout of season 4’s cliffhanger before jumping forward in the timeline. Stranger Things season 4 ended with the collapse of the barrier between Hawkins and the Upside Down, causing great fissures to open up in the ground that connect Hawkins and the Upside Down like never before.
After such an explosive conclusion, fans are dying to know how Eleven and the town of Hawkins can possibly deal with such a catastrophic event. Consequently, making the time jump at the beginning of Stranger Things season 5 would risk upsetting fans who want to know what happens after the Upside Down crashes into Hawkins. The show could still backtrack and explain what happened even if it does make an immediate time jump, but waiting a few episodes to make the skip would eliminate the need to backtrack.
Although this theory makes a lot of sense in terms of satisfying curious fans, it might not fit as well as people expect. Stranger Things season 5 has a lot to cover in order to create a satisfying ending, and spending too much time dealing with the immediate fallout of the Upside Down’s arrival in Hawkins might not leave enough time to properly deal with Vecna and tie up all the loose ends. While this doesn’t rule out a mid-season time jump completely, it seems far less likely when considering how much material Stranger Things season 5 needs to cover.
Perhaps the most straightforward possibility in regard to Stranger Things season 5’s time jump is that it will occur immediately, allowing the show to jump straight into the thick of things. In this scenario, the time jump would likely happen off-screen between Stranger Things seasons 4 and 5. Alternatively, the show could include a quick scene or two that take place immediately after season 4’s finale before jumping a year or two into the future and getting into the show’s endgame.
Considering the main reason for Stranger Things season 5’s time jump seems to be that the cast has outgrown their characters, this is probably the most logical choice. If the show includes the events immediately after season 4’s finale, it would have to make the characters look exactly as they do in that episode, which could require expensive de-aging technology or cosmetics. The only way to completely avoid the use of de-aging technology might be to make the time jump occur at the beginning of Stranger Things season 5.
However, Stranger Things‘ cast was mostly grown up already when season 4 was released, so making the actors look like they did in that season wouldn’t be that much of a stretch. Still, it would seem counterintuitive to push the time jump back when the main reason for it was to avoid such continuity errors. With that in mind, this might be the most likely way for Stranger Things season 5 to handle its time jump. However, Stranger Things is famous for its unpredictability, so it’s entirely possible that the show handles its time jump differently.
Stranger Things season 5’s time jump could also come closer to the end of the season, only occurring after El and her friends lose a major battle or important conflict with Vecna and his hive mind. This theory suggests that El and company are destined to lose to Vecna, who will merge Hawkins into the Upside Down after defeating them. Then, after a time jump of several years, Eleven and her friends would return to Hawkins and finally deal with Vecna for good, separating the small Indiana-town from the Upside Down permanently.
This theory hinges on the idea of Eleven and her friends being soundly defeated by Vecna, forcing them to wait several years before confronting him again, and while those circumstances seem rather specific, it’s far more plausible than it might appear. Vecna was defeated pretty handily by Eleven, Nancy, and Steve in Stranger Things season 4, and with his incredible level of power, it seems unlikely that Vecna would be beaten twice in a row. With that in mind, Vecna winning a fight before ultimately being defeated would make a lot of sense.
Unfortunately, this theory runs into a similar issue as the mid-season time jump, which is that it would seemingly defeat the entire purpose of the time jump — making the cast and characters look the same age. Again, Stranger Things is unpredictable, and it’s possible that the Duffer brothers could be allowing people to assume the time jump is meant to correct the characters’ ages, when really, its purpose is something entirely different. That might be stretching plausibility, however, so this theory is still relatively unlikely to be correct.