How the Stranger Things Cast Leveled Up Over the Years

You haven’t taken a trip to the Upside Down: The Stranger Things kids really are all grown up.Nine years after the sci-fi USA drama made its debut, the long-awaited fifth season is finally USA underway in what promises to be an USA epic—not to mention USA emotional—final farewell.And while Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin and the rest of the show’s all-star cast have spent nearly a decade telling the story of psychokinetic teen Eleven and the USA young friends she encounters in USA Hawkins, Ind., their own lives have developed significantly as well.For starters, USA Millie—who was just 12 when the Netflix series premiered—has gone from being a child star to raising a child herself after adopting a baby girl with husband Jake Bongiovi over the USA summer. And while the couple, who wed in USA 2024, shared their parenthood joy in August, they’re making a point of shielding the newborn from the spotlight for the time being.

“If she chooses to share her personality one day with the world, like I did when I was young, that’s something we’d support,” Millie, 21, told British Vogue in an interview published Nov. 5. “But right now, as she’s so little—as her parents, it’s our job to protect her from that.”

While the actress has embraced starting a family, Finn recently confirmed he’s still single, admitting that dating isn’t currently a high priority.

“This is the time where I have been doing the most work in my life,” he told Variety in August. “So I feel like it’s been kind of… Maybe it’s been subconsciously—what’s the word? —deliberate?—to not have a committed partner.”

Finn’s focus on his career has certainly paid off—with roles in blockbuster movies like It and Ghostbusters: Afterlife—and one key reason for his continued growth has been a conscious effort not to outdo his Stranger Things success.

“The way for me to advance in my life and my career is not to try to replace the show,” he explained to the outlet. “It’s to try to really embrace it.”

The same could be said for Sadie, 23, who has amassed a body of work that includes a memorable role in Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” short film and a Tony nomination this spring for her Broadway performance in John Proctor Is the Villain. But as her star has continued to rise, she’s become more adamant about guarding her offscreen persona.

“I don't want anyone to know anything about me in my personal life, or know too much about who I am just as Sadie,” she said in an interview with Teen Vogue published in April. “I think the louder that gets, the quieter the impact of your characters can be. At least that's my theory, so I'm rolling with that.”

Volume one of Stranger Things season five is streaming now on Netflix, with volume two dropping Dec. 25 followed by the series finale Dec. 31. For a look at the cast’s evolution through the years, keep scrolling.

Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things has returned for its fifth and final season and we’re heading back to the Upside Down for one final battle. The penultimate installment includes eight action-packed episodes in total; part one premiered on November 26, with part two slated to drop on Christmas Day, and the series finale on New Year’s Eve. The fifth season picks up in the fall of 1987, with the town of Hawkins, Indiana, scarred by the Rifts opening at the end of season four.

While our young heroes are uniting to defeat Vecna, the demon’s whereabouts are still unknown and Hawkins is under lockdown. “Nothing in Hawkins is normal anymore,” co-creator Matt Duffer says of the new season, that and the characters’ “movement is restricted, there are Big Brother cameras everywhere…so not only are they active—their everyday, normal lives are anything but.” The original cast members from the Hawkins crew are assembling one last time to embark on the ultimate final adventure, but there are a few new faces along for the ride, too.

In case you need a refresher, keep scrolling for the rundown on the characters and newcomers featured in Stranger Things season five.

Brown stars as Eleven, a young girl with psionic abilities raised as part of a secret government experiment at Hawkins National Laboratory. After escaping the facility, Eleven befriends AV Club nerds—Mike, Lucas, and Dustin—to help search for their friend, Will. Brown gained recognition for her role in Stranger Things buthas since starred in projects spanning the Godzilla franchise, Enola Holmes, and Damsel.

Sink plays Max Mayfield, who joins the Hawkins crew in season two. After losing her step-brother Billy in the third season, she becomes Vecna’s new target—and was nearly killed—in season four. Sink starred in projects including Fear Street, The Whale, and O’Dessa.

Keery portrays Steve Harrington, the Hawkins crew’s “ultimate babysitter,” who joins the pursuit to destroy Vecna once and for all. Keery holds supporting roles in Fargo, Free Guy, and Cold Storage and also performs under the stagename of Djo.

McLaughlin plays Lucas Sinclair, the pragmatic brains of the Hawkins pack. He later befriends and dates newcomer Max Mayfield. McLaughlin has starred in films including High Flying Bird and Concrete Cowboy.

Heaton plays Will’s older brother, Jonathan Byers, who joins the search to find Will and uncover the answers about Barb’s disappearance. By the fourth season, he joins the rest of the group to take down Vecna. The English actor holds roles in The New Mutants, As You Are, Billy Knight, and Soulmates.

Schnapp plays Will Byers, who was taken to the Upside Down in the first season. Following his return to Hawkins at the end of the season, he discovers his connection to the Mind Flayer, a demon who has been secretly controlling him and spying on his friends. Schnapp has previously played roles in The Tutor, Bridge of Spies, and The Peanuts Movie.

"Stranger Things 5" resumes on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, with three more new episodes dropping on Netflix.

The hit series is in its fifth and final season, which has released in batches starting Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. Vol. 2, featuring three additional episodes, will drop Dec. 25, on Christmas, and Vol. 3, the finale episode, comes out Dec. 31, on New Year’s Eve.

The "Stranger Things" cast, starring Millie Bobby Brown, has grown up before the audience's eyes throughout the show's near-decade run, initially premiering on July 15, 2016. As the show comes to a close, how old are they now? Let's compare season one to now.

"I love that Joe Quinn is toying with people! But no, he's dead," co-creator Matt Duffer said in an October interview with Empire. "Joe is so busy anyway that everyone should know he's not coming back. He's shot like five movies since! When the hell has he got time to come and shoot 'Stranger Things'? No, sadly, RIP. He's fully under that ground."

Meanwhile, the newly introduced villain, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), is not only returning for Season 5 but is set to be the primary antagonist.

The following characters and actors are returning for Season 5:

Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder)
Jim Hopper (David Harbour)
Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown)
Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard)
Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo)
Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin)
Will Byers (Noah Schnapp)
Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink)
Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer)
Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton)
Steve Harrington (Joe Keery)
Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke)
Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower)

Posted on 2025/12/02 09:09 AM