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Netflix has announced One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, a behind-the-scenes documentary on the show’s fifth and final season.
Due out on Netflix on January 12, the film follows the cast, creators, and crew as they bring the final season to life — and say goodbye. One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 is directed by Martina Radwan, who commented:
“I’m endlessly grateful to the Duffer Brothers for trusting me with a front-row seat to this incredible journey. Spending a full year on set with them was a true privilege — and an absolute thrill. Being able to get close and watching them bring this beloved show to life in real time, was pure joy. I only wish I could travel back in time and document Seasons 1 through 4. From the cast to their long-time collaborators, everyone welcomed me with remarkable generosity, openly sharing their personal and collective experiences from a decade of creative filmmaking. The Duffers always push boundaries and inspire everyone to be better, including myself. Their process and the show represents everything I love about filmmaking.”
The trailer, below, teases the film, which touches on the Duffer Brothers’ internal discussion around the fate of Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown. This is something the pair have discussed in detail in various post-release interviews.
One last time. Watch the never-before-seen behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Stranger Things 5. Premiering January 12. pic.twitter.com/5FNvTNlvuz
— Netflix (@netflix) January 5, 2026
The Duffer Brothers also issued a comment: “Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, we dreamed of becoming filmmakers — but Hollywood felt impossibly far away. Everything changed when we watched the behind-the-scenes documentaries for The Lord of the Rings — on-the-ground films that showed the real nuts and bolts of how a massive production actually gets made. We saw how stressed Peter Jackson was and thought: yep, that’s the dream. With the decline of physical media, that kind of behind-the-scenes storytelling has largely disappeared. We wanted to bring it back.
“One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5 — beautifully captured and directed by Martina Radwan — is our attempt to do just that. If you love Stranger Things, or if you’re simply curious how a major Hollywood production comes to life, this one’s for you.”
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings also influenced the Season 5 finale. Last week, the Duffer Brothers said the lengthy Season 5 finale epilogue and its end credits were inspired by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
“We thought about [The Lord of the Rings] Return of the King a lot, just in terms of the length of the epilogue,” Matt Duffer told Deadline. “I always defend the Return of the King epilogue, but I’m one of those hardcore Lord of the Rings fans, to the point where I’ve watched all extended editions in a row on a single day. If you do that, the epilogue feels absolutely perfect and not long at all. In fact, if it felt shorter, it would feel absolutely distressing.
“I think, Stranger Things, if you watch Season 5 all the way through, it’s going to feel great. You just want to spend extra time with these characters. Anyway, that was sort of the reference for the epilogue. Then we love the credits at the end of Return of the King. So that was the initial idea, and they were these very simple illustrations.”
Stranger Things may have come to an end, but we’ve got plenty more on the show, including the Duffer Brothers explaining why the demogorgons didn’t help Vecna out in the final battle, and first details on the live-action spinoff.
Image credit: Netflix.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
