Stranger Things 5: What the first five minutes reveal about Will and Vecna’s dark connection

After years of theories, cliffhangers, and unanswered questions, Stranger Things is finally circling back to where it all began, the night Will Byers vanished. Netflix has dropped the first five minutes of the long-awaited fifth and final season, and the clip doesn’t just tug on nostalgia; it unlocks mysteries buried since Season 1.

From Will’s original abduction to Vecna’s sinister connection, the teaser delivers haunting clarity and a chilling promise of what’s to come when the series returns on 26 November 2025.

A return to 1983: Revisiting Will’s nightmare

The opening sequence, titled The Crawl, plunges viewers straight back to November 12, 1983, six days after Will Byers disappeared. Rather than picking up after the chaos of Season 4, the story rewinds to the Upside Down version of Hawkins, specifically, Castle Byers, where a de-aged Will (Noah Schnapp) hides in the eerie mirror world.

Exhausted and terrified, Will softly sings “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash, a song first introduced to him by his brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) in Season 1. What was once a symbol of brotherly comfort now becomes his survival mantra. It’s the same “familiar song” teased months ago by the Duffer Brothers in the Season 5 script line: “Darkness. The sound of cold wind. Groaning trees. And… a child’s voice. Singing a familiar song.”

As the haunting melody echoes, a Demogorgon prowls nearby. When it attacks, Will fights back fiercely, shooting with steady aim, leaping from tree to tree, and doing everything he can to survive. Despite his courage, he’s eventually overpowered, falling from a tree and being dragged through the decaying forest floor toward a lair pulsing with red lightning. It’s here, for the first time, we see the truth behind Will’s disappearance, and the face of his captor.

Vecna’s master plan comes into focus

From the shadows emerges Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), the twisted architect of the Upside Down’s horrors. In the clip, Vecna approaches the terrified boy, vines curling to restrain him. With a chilling calm, he presses a tendril to Will’s mouth, injecting a substance into his body while murmuring, “At long last, we can begin. You and I, we are going to do such beautiful things together, William. Such beautiful things.” This disturbing act is more than a scare tactic, it’s an origin point. Fans have long speculated about why Will was taken instead of killed, and this scene suggests he was never simply a victim, but part of a deliberate plan. The injection appears to link him biologically or psychically to the Upside Down, explaining the tendril found down his throat when Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour) rescued him in Season 1. The scene also reveals something new about the Demogorgon: it obeys Vecna’s orders.

The creature drags Will to the lair and even bows to Vecna, the first sign that these monsters act under intelligent control rather than primal instinct. Vecna’s line, “At long last, we can begin,” confirms what many suspected, he has known Will since the very beginning, and his influence over the boy might still be active. The Season 5 trailer later hints at this when Vecna tells him, “You are going to help me… one last time.”

Clues from the past: The spy and the Mind Flayer connection

Ross Duffer recently told Entertainment Weekly that fans should revisit Season 2, Episode 6: The Spy to understand the significance of these first minutes. In that episode, Will experiences pain when a tendril from the tunnels is burned and later confesses, “He made me do it.” It becomes clear Will was acting as a conduit for the Mind Flayer, an extension of Vecna’s power. Season 5 builds directly on that foundation. The tendril Vecna forces into Will in 1983 might be the origin of that psychic bond, suggesting Will has been linked to the Upside Down since the moment of his abduction. As Matt Duffer explained, “So much of the season was built around the idea of coming full circle, answering many of the questions posed all the way back in Season 1.” He added, “The two biggest questions we didn’t really answer then, ‘What is the Upside Down, truly?’ and ‘Why was Will taken?’ are finally revealed this season.” The Duffer Brothers have said that everything about the Upside Down, its rules, purpose, and connection to Hawkins, was planned from Season 1. Season 5, they promise, is where “the curtain is finally pulled back on all of that.”

Will Byers: From weak link to survivor

For years, Will Byers has been seen as the group’s most vulnerable member, the boy who needed saving.

But the new footage flips that perception. In these opening minutes, we see a young boy showing grit, resourcefulness, and courage that rival any of the other Hawkins kids. His aim, his quick thinking, and his determination make it clear he’s no longer just the victim of the story, he’s central to its ending.Fans are finally “putting some respect on his name.” Noah Schnapp’s de-aged performance captures the perfect balance between the innocence of 1983 Will and the lingering trauma that defines his older self in later seasons.

The final chapter: What awaits Hawkins

The fifth season is set in autumn 1987, marking the anniversary of Will’s disappearance. Hawkins is still scarred by the Rifts that tore through the town, and the government has placed it under military quarantine. Surveillance cameras line the streets, and Eleven (

Millie Bobby Brown

) is once again forced into hiding as authorities intensify their search for her. The official synopsis from Netflix reads:“Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished, his whereabouts and plans unknown. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming, and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone, the full party, standing together, one last time.” Series co-creator Matt Duffer emphasised the stakes: “Nothing in Hawkins is normal anymore… their movement is restricted, and there are Big Brother cameras everywhere.” Ross Duffer added that some mysteries were deliberately left for this final run: “We’ve saved a couple of big reveals for Season 5, and that’s really going to affect what this season is about.”

Release details: The end begins

Netflix will release Stranger Things Season 5 in three parts, marking the first time the series has used a phased rollout:

Each volume is expected to deepen the emotional and mythological threads leading to the showdown between the Hawkins crew and Vecna, a final confrontation eight years in the making.