Unfortunately, Stranger Things' final season won’t be making the 2024 TV schedule, but the good news is that production is in full swing. What's known about ST Season 5 remains limited, but series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have been gracious in sharing a handful of behind-the-scenes photos to commemorate weeks of filming. Fellow EP Shawn Levy has since shared BTS pics himself. But, now, one of the images from his latest batch has me worried.
Shawn Levy took to Instagram to share a number of photos from production on the final season of the hit Netflix show. They show him and the cast taking in the excitement, but my eye is drawn to one tidbit that links to the first season:
The photo in question shows The Duffer Brothers alongside Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp and an unidentified, presumed crew member. Neither Wolfhard nor Schnapp seem to be in costume, so this is likely them chatting with the show’s creators on their off time, which isn’t anything to write home about. What is interesting, though, is the set piece in the background that’s unmistakably the alphabet wall Joyce Byers created in her living room during Season 1.
Now, I’m sure there’s a reasonable reason why a set piece from Season 1 is still around, but since that reason wasn’t given, I have free reign to speculate After all, if Stranger Things has taught me anything, it’s to question everything!
Is Someone Stuck In The Upside Down Again?
Upon seeing the iconic set piece, my mind immediately went to the possibility that Will or someone else might be stuck in the Upside Down this season. Perhaps it’ll be Eddie Munson, who some fans are convinced isn’t really dead.
However, given how Season 4 ended, it’s unlikely that anyone is going to get stuck in the Upside Down, but rather, they’re going to be down there searching for the villianous Vecna. It’s more likely, then, that Joyce might've managed to move back into her home in Hawkins to recreate the wall to make it easier to communicate with whichever characters decide to explore the alternate dimension.
Could It Be A Hint That We're Getting Flashbacks Or A Total Reset Of Events?
One popular Stranger Things fan theory regarding Season 5 is that the characters are going to be messing with time. Whether that be through flashbacks, time travel, or a total reset to the events of the first season remains to be seen.
Since there weren't many scenes with Will in the Upside Down in that first season, it’s possible that the Duffer Brothers are planning to shoot some flashbacks with a younger Byers, as they did with Eleven’s character in Season 4. It would make sense, then, to include more scenes of Joyce trying to communicate with her son via the wall.
There’s also the possibility that the return of the wall signifies that Season 5 could end with a partial reset to the events from the start. Perhaps Will manages to break through the wall and run to his mom instead of running deeper into the Upside Down. It sounds wild, but it's not impossible.
Is This Just A Leftover Set Piece?
The least exciting hypothetical is that the wall is a leftover, standing set that the crews never tore down because of how iconic it is. However, it would be a little weird to still have a set piece from Season 1 hanging around the sound stage of an active set when the characters don’t even live in that house anymore. After all, sound stages are massive, but keeping sets you aren’t going to use is a waste of valuable space.
Unfortunately, Shawn Levy never addresses why the wall appears in his post and, judging by the comments, fans don’t seem to be focused on it either. Hopefully, for those of us who are curious, we’ll get answers when Season 5 eventually makes its way to Netflix — hopefully as part of the 2025 TV Schedule. Until then, you can stream the first four seasons of the show with an active Netflix subscription.
