Maya Hawke Feels 'Mixed' About Her Character Robin Having a Girlfriend in Stranger Things 5

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We knew this day would one day come because as they say, all good things must come to an end. On February 17, 2022, the Duffer Brothers announced that season 5 will be the final chapter for Stranger Things, the sci-fi series that’s sustained global phenomenon status throughout its record-breaking run on Netflix. It’ll be very difficult to say goodbye, but the epic adventures of our favorite Dungeons & Dragons crew are not over yet.

We’ve seen Eleven, Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and the rest of the Hawkins gang fight demogorgons, traverse the mysteries of the Upside Down, battle Russians and Mind Flayers at the Starcourt Mall, and try to defeat the alternate dimension’s latest villain, Vecna. Now that Stranger Things 4 is out on Netflix, we’re already wondering how the many storylines of this show might wrap up in season 5. And most importantly, when will it premiere? Will it be split up into two parts like season 4? There are so many questions.

But luckily, we’re here to break all the details down. Below, find out everything we know so far about season 5 of Stranger Things.

stranger things l to r maya hawke as robin buckley, joseph quinn as eddie munson, natalia dyer as nancy wheeler, and joe keery as steve harrington in stranger things cr courtesy of netflix © 2022
Courtesy of Netflix

Has Stranger Things 5 started production?

During the Middle East Film & Comic Con in Abu Dhabi, David Harbour revealed that season 5 was slated to begin filming in June 2023.

"We're walking into season five. I've got a couple more months to train. We start shooting that in June, though, and that will be the final season. I did a lot of training for season four," David said, per Collider."[Hopper] was in a very specific position, that Russian prison. It was about making him a different guy and sort of shedding a layer of himself physically, mentally, and emotionally. But now he's back in town, he's back in America where they have cheeseburgers, so he will be well-fed."

David's answer differs from his co-star, Noah Schnapp's statement from January 2023, where he said that production will kick off in May 2023 during a TikTok Live. When asked if filming would interfere with his college studies, Noah responded, "No, it's not. I 'm done with school in May, and starting to shoot in May."

Netflix has yet to confirm which production date is true, but it looks like the Hawkins crew may not reunite in a few months' time because of the Writers Guild of America's strike that began on May 1, 2023. Film and television writers are striking in protest for fair compensation for their work at companies including Netflix, Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox, Disney, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Amazon, and Apple.

The Duffer Brothers took to the @strangerwriters Twitter account to show their solidarity with the writers fighting for fair wages. "Writing does not stop when filming begins," the Brothers wrote. "While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out."

To commemorate Stranger Things day on November 6, 2022, Netflix held a bunch of virtual and IRL activations. The streamer released a photo of the official Stranger Things 5 script, which includes the title for the final season’s first episode: “Chapter One: The Crawl.” Seriously, season 5 of the beloved sci-fi series can’t come soon enough.

On August 25, 2022, the official Stranger Things writers’ room Twitter account shared an update on production. Alongside a photo of a whiteboard divided into eight episodes, they wrote, “Grid stage.” One user noticed two lines separating episodes 4 and 5, and questioned if this symbolizes where the season’s time jump takes place.

“Not a time jump. Does it mean anything? 🤔,” the writers’ room replied. Hmmmm. Showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer (aka The Duffer Brothers) previously teased that there will be a time jump in the final season, but perhaps it will be in effect from the very first episode? Or, maybe the two lines signify that the season will be split into two releases, like season 4.

In early August 2022, the writers' room confirmed that they’d officially started penning the final season.

Will there be new cast members in Stranger Things season 5?

We saw the addition of new characters like our new fave Eddie Munson and Vecna in Stranger Things 4, and there will be a new addition in the show’s fifth and final season. At Netflix's global TUDUM event in June 2023, it was revealed that another familiar face from the '80s will be part of the final season of the beloved series. Linda Hamilton, who fans may recognize from The Terminator movies, is joining the cast for Stranger Things 5. The exact details surrounding her role have not been revealed yet, but she shared her excitement with fans during the virtual global event from the streamer. "I don’t know how to be a fan girl and an actress at the same time,” she said, "I’m gonna work on that."

In an August 2022 interview, the Duffer Brothers said they were trying not to add a lot of new faces to the series. "We're doing our best to resist [adding new characters] for Season 5," Matt Duffer told IndieWire. "We’re trying not to do that so we can focus on the OG characters, I guess."

Ross continued, dishing on the thought process behind including new characters: “Whenever we introduce a new character, we want to make sure that they’re going to be an integral part of the narrative,” he began. “But every time we do that, we’re nervous because you go, ‘We’ve got a great cast of characters here and actors, and any moment we’re spending with a new character, we’re taking away time from one of the other actors.’ So we’re just very, very careful about who we’re introducing.”

Is there a release date for Stranger Things 5?

Given that the series’ writers have only recently started writing, there is no set debut date for season 5. There were three years in between the release of seasons 3 and 4, but the pandemic contributed to scheduling and production delays. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait that long, but it’s likely we won’t see Stranger Things 5 until 2023 or 2024.

stranger things l to r eduardo franco as argyle, charlie heaton as jonathan, millie bobby brown as eleven, noah schnapp as will byers, and finn wolfhard as mike wheeler in stranger things cr courtesy of netflix © 2022
Courtesy of Netflix

In a February 2023 interview with GQ, Finn Wolfhard hinted that the fifth and final season of the beloved sci-fi series likely won't hit Netflix until 2025. "I can't believe it's already season 5, I will be 22 by the time it comes out, I think, and I started working on the show at 12. That is insane," the actor said. "I’ll be able to drink with Gaten [Matarazzo], Caleb [McLaughlin] and Noah [Schnapp] and the whole cast at the premiere of Stranger Things 5. [You] couldn’t have said the same thing at the season 1 premiere, which blows my mind."

Since Finn was born in December 2002, that means he's currently 20 years old and he won't be 21 until the end of 2024. This also means that Stranger Things 5 may potentially be released at the end of 2025, according to Finn's statement.

For those worrying that the series might move to a weekly release on Netflix, fear not. On June 7, 2022, Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada, confirmed to Variety that the final season will follow suit with previous iterations, and will be released all at once.

What will Stranger Things 5 be about?

Anyone else still reeling from the Stranger Things 4 finale? Same. We'll have to wait and see what might go down in the final season, but we can bet that season 5 will mostly focus on saving the small Indiana town where it all started. The show's writers teased an unexpected description of what season 5 may entail through their Twitter account on March 21, 2023. "Season 5 is like if season 1 and 4 had a baby. And then that baby was injected with steroids," @strangerwriters wrote.

In September 2022, executive producer Shawn Levy revealed to E! News that Stranger Things 5 “will definitely be more Hawkins-centric.”

“Our ambitions remain pretty high, and the way the audience has grown along with the cinematic scope of the show, I don’t expect that we’re going to mess with that approach going into season five,” Levy continued.

stranger things l to r joe keery as steve harrington, natalia dyer as nancy wheeler and maya hawke as robin buckley in stranger things cr courtesy of netflix © 2022
Courtesy of Netflix

In June 2022, the Duffer Brothers hinted at one major plot detail in an interview with TVLine. They revealed that Hawkins High’s students will be a little older. “I’m sure we will do a time jump,” Ross said. Okay, woah.

stranger things l to r millie bobby brown as eleven and matthew modine as dr martin brenner in stranger things cr tina rowdennetflix © 2022
Photo Credit: Tina Rowden

The possibility of a time jump seems likely, as Sadie Sink recently cut her signature red hair into a bob. The actress' new 'do flew under the radar until she performed at the Bowery Electric in New York City on April 27 and Croatia Airlines posted a photo with her on April 30, 2023. Fans are already theorizing that her chop may have to do with the fifth and final season of the beloved Netflix show.

In a fan edit posted on TikTok, Sadie is seen with her new short hair while playing the guitar. The post's caption reads, "the hair 🤤💯 ST5 spoiler??" Others took to the comments section, writing, "Have you seen that Sadie Sink has a new hairstyle?? If she cut off her hair, does that mean she won’t be in season 5? after all, they can’t change their hairstyle. Max won’t be alive?"

It's unclear whether Sadie's short hair plays into the plot of the upcoming season, but there's a chance it could tie in with the time jump to make her character, Max, appear older.

In true Stranger Things fashion, there's also a possibility of some characters being killed off (RIP Barb, Bob, and Billy 🥲). According to Reddit, fans are convinced that the fifth and final season will lead to the demise of two beloved characters: Max and Steve.

"Steve has become a sort of 'mother' to the gang, so it would not be surprising if the guy decides to sacrifice himself for a higher purpose," one fan wrote. On the other hand, Max, who is currently comatose, may fall victim to Vecna in season 5. Fans theorize that Max will forgive herself for what happened to her late brother, Billy, but will be stuck in her coma. Plot details for season 5 are currently under wraps and have yet to be confirmed, but Stranger Things stans may be on to something here. 😳

In a July 2022 interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Duffers also revealed that episodes in the final season will be shorter than the movie-length ones in Stranger Things 4 — with the exception of the big finale, of course. “The only reason we don’t expect to be as long is because, typically — or this season, if you look at it, it’s almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery,” Matt explained. “You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, they’re struggling with adapting to high school and so forth. Steve’s trying to find a date, all of that. None of that is obviously going to be occurring in the first two episodes.”

“For the first time ever, we don’t wrap things up at the end of [season 4]. Characters are already going to be in action, they’re already going to have a goal and a drive, and I think that’s going to carve out at least a couple hours and make this season feel really different. I’m sure the wrap-up will be a lot longer,” Matt continued. The Duffers also said that Eddie’s death and Max’s coma will have “major repercussions” in season 5, which will also go full circle into season 1, with many of the same groups reuniting for battle.

What has the cast said about Stranger Things 5?

Maya Hawke, the actress who plays Robin, revealed that she has 'mixed' feelings about her character having a girlfriend in season five.

"I don't know, I feel mixed about it," she said in an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment when asked if she hopes that Robin will get a girlfriend.

"I feel like that's both a great thing, and I also love characters where their love life is not the center of their existence," she continued. "And that friendship with Steve is so special, and friendships have been carrying me through my life. I think they're really important and they deserve their airtime."

Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin on the show, paid a visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about its final season and his stint on Broadway in March 2023. When Jimmy asked him if bidding farewell to the Netflix series was "bittersweet," Gaten said, "Of course it is. There's kind of an excitement there because you always want to wrap it up and see how these characters are going to finally develop one last time, and how they’re going to finish their journeys. But also there's like a deep fear. Not only has it been amazing, but it’s been pretty great job security for a while. Back to freelance."

In a January 23, 2023 interview with Us Weekly, Noah Schnapp opened up about his character, Will's journey with his sexuality and being in love with his best friend, Mike. "I think it's beautifully written," Noah Schnapp told the publication while promoting his company, TBH. "They've had this vision for a long time, which you can tell even from season 1 how they wrote it with his character and how he was bullied and being called a fairy and all the way up from season 1 up until now. They've had this story line kind of in the works and I think their vision has been working really well."

Sadie Sink received her flowers for her emotional performance as Max in Stranger Things 4, and she opened up about leaving the beloved series and starting a new chapter. On January 4, 2023, the actress appeared on The Today Show to promote her movie The Whale but revealed that she doesn't know much about the fifth and final season of her hit Netflix show. "We know that it's happening and that it's the last season, so it's going to be emotional I 'm sure," Sadie said. "Spoiler-free, just with the way my character ended in season 4, I have no idea what is going to happen. But I'll be there."

Sadie, who has played Max since she was 14 years old, also revealed how sentimental she feels about the show ending this year. "It's going to be awful. It's going to be horrible. These kids, this entire cast and crew, it's family. People say that all the time, but I genuinely mean it," she explained. "And to think that we have to say goodbye to that security and knowing that we're going to be seeing each other for another season? It's scary and sad, but I think it's exciting to kind of move on to the next chapter, I guess."

On January 14, 2023, Sadie sat down at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and dished on the fate of Max in season five. "I mean, I'd like to see if she's awake [from her coma]," Sadie said. "I want to know if I have to get back in the body cast. I'd like for that chapter to be closed." She then joked that laying in the cast is an "easy job," but that she doesn't know what the fifth and final season entails for her character just yet.

In a November 2022 interview with Vogue, Noah Schnapp echoed the Duffers’ sentiment when it came to Stranger Things coming full circle. “2023 is the year of Stranger Things for me. We’re filming the final season. There’s a lot in store for Will. It ties back to where it begins, full circle,” Noah said. “I’m excited for fans to see where we wrap his character. I think they’ll be really pleased…but also shocked.” He also told the publication that filming is set to resume in Atlanta, which means the gang has made their way back to Hawkins.

One month later, in a December 2022 with Forbes, Noah remained tight-lipped about the Stranger Things finale — but he teased a bit more of what we can expect from his character, Will. “I can just tell you that I’m very very excited for what’s to come. I think they did a great job with Will’s character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to,” the actor dished. “The way they closed the show is just perfect — the story started with Will, and it’ll end with Will.” Chills!

Sadie Sink has also commented on the future of her character Max in season 5, specifically, where she might stand with Lucas (played by Caleb McLaughlin). ICYMI, Max and Lucas struck up a romance in season 3 of the sci-fi series, but after the battle at the Starcourt Mall and Billy’s death in season 4, things abruptly ended between them.

stranger things l to r sadie sink as max mayfield and caleb mclaughlin as lucas sinclair in stranger things cr tina rowdennetflix © 2022
Tina Rowden/Netflix

“I feel like after everything Max went through, if she ever wakes up, then I think she would just flee. I think she’s gonna get out, get out of Hawkins,” Sadie said on the December 15 episode of the Variety Awards Circuit podcast. “She’s too smart to stay there. But she’s also a very loyal friend, so who knows? It’ll be conflicting.”

The actress reiterated that she knows nothing about season 5 plot details for her character. But when asked if she thinks she and Lucas will end up together, she said, “Yeah, I think so. I mean, they’re really cute, aren’t they? And the little like note exchange, that was really sweet. I think we gotta see something. There’s definitely room to grow there.”

Who will return to Stranger Things 5?

Dr. Brenner is shot multiple times by the U.S. military after they infiltrated the secret lab in Nevada, seemingly dying in front of Eleven’s eyes. So, we most likely won’t see him again. But, what’s to come of his lab partner, Dr. Owens? It turns out that Paul Reiser, the actor behind the character, is also unsure.

“I literally don’t know,” he told E! News. “The Stranger Things writers’ room tweeted out, ‘Hey, everybody, send us your thoughts for next season. What would you like to see?’ And I wrote in, ‘Can Dr. Owens live? Would that be possible?’”

The last time we saw Dr. Owens in Stranger Things 4, he was being locked away by Dr. Brenner. After he’s killed and Eleven destroys the military helicopter, she, Will, Mike, Jonathan, and Argyle escape the lab — and that’s the last we see of that landscape.

“I’d appreciate it if Dr. Owens comes in, in like a superhero cape, and saves the day,” Paul added.

Although we hate to remind you once more, the devastating death of Eddie likely means that Joseph Quinn, who portrays the metalhead, will not return for the final season. BRB, going to mend my broken heart. But, Joseph did reveal in a recent interview that a cameo is not totally out of the question. Consider our fingers crossed.

Jamie Campbell Bower — who portrays Vecna, aka One — teased his return in the final season. “Let me put it this way: I know about season five. Take from that what you will,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Well, based on the fact that Will told Mike in the final episode that Vecna is not dead, just hurting,” it seems very likely that the monster — and his friends — will return.

Everyone else is likely to continue the fight in the final chapter — Max is in a coma in the last episode, but the possibility of her waking up is not overwhelmingly positive. Sadie Sink, the actress who plays Max, revealed in a June 27 interview with The Hollywood Reporter that she has no intel on her character’s story line in season 5.

“Honestly, I do not know anything about season five. They keep it very locked in a way and don’t let any of the cast know,” she said. “I think a few cast members know what’s going to happen, but I have not received any information whatsoever. Maybe I should work on that because I’m dying to know as well.”

In a July 4 interview with Deadline, Sadie expressed the same sentiment. “[The Duffer Brothers have] been very secretive about season five in general... have no idea what’s coming in five and what that looks like. Max’s storyline is very up in the air, ’cause obviously she’s in a coma and Eleven can’t find her in the void. So who knows where she is and what state she’s in.”

stranger things l to r joe keery as steve harrington, gaten matarazzo as dustin henderson, maya hawke as robin buckley, sadie sink as max mayfield, natalia dyer as nancy wheeler, and caleb mclaughlin as lucas sinclair in stranger things cr courtesy of netflix © 2022
Courtesy of Netflix

What else has the cast said about the upcoming season?

Although the plot details of the fifth and final season are relatively unknown, Maya Hawke, who plays Robin, hopes for her character’s “hero’s moment.”

“Well, it’s the last season, so people are probably going to die... I’d love to die with honor, as any actor would,” she said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. “But I love the way that the Duffer Brothers love their actors. The reason that they write so beautifully for me and for everyone else is because they fall in love with their actors and their characters, and they don’t want to kill them. I think that’s a beautiful quality that they have, and I wouldn’t wish it away.”

So, if Robin survives the imminent battle with the Upside Down in Hawkins, Maya is open to other paths for her character. When the Rolling Stone interviewer expressed dreams of a spin-off of Robin and Steve living their best lives someplace in the ’90s, Maya concurred. “Normally I wouldn’t really be a proponent of a spinoff, but if I got to do it with Joe Keery, I would do anything. He’s so funny and wonderful and smart, and he’s got great boundaries. He’s an excellent coworker, and I would do anything with him,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy revealed at a September 13 event that the full season storyline has been pitched to Netflix — and the response was emotional. “We did get our executives to cry, which I felt was a good sign that these executives were crying,” Matt Duffer shared, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“I will say the thing about these Duffer Brothers is that even though the show has gotten so famous and the characters have gotten so iconic and there’s so much about the ’80s and the supernatural and the genre, it’s about these people, it’s about these characters,” Levy added. “Season five is already so clearly taking care of these stories of the characters because that’s always been the lifeblood of Stranger Things.”

Finally, the showrunners also confirmed that the overall feel of season 5 will be reminiscent of the early installments. “I think that what we’re trying to do is go back to the beginning a little bit in the tone of [season] one, but scale-wise it’s more in line with what [season] four is,” Ross Duffer explained. “Hopefully it’s got a little bit of everything.”

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