The Fifth and Final Season of 'Stranger Things' Just Nabbed a Huge New Star: Linda Hamilton

Overview

She'll be back: Linda Hamilton, that is, and on the small screen sometime in the near future. The Terminator franchise star, who came to fame in the humans-versus-AI saga in the 80s, is making the leap to Netflix's favourite ode to that very decade. Yes, the actor who made Sarah Connor an icon is joining Stranger Things.

When season five of the hit sci-fi series arrives, it'll bring with it a big ending, wrapping up the Netflix hit after the next batch of episodes. Everything from Succession to Barry has also said goodbye of late, and Stranger Things is next. It's clearly going out in style with help from its huge new addition to the cast, which the streaming platform just announced at 2023's Tudum — A Global Fan Event.

"I don't know how to be a fangirl and an actress at the same time," she Hamilton in a video played at the Netflix festivities. "I'm gonna work on that."

Hamilton's casting marks the first mention of any new actors for the upcoming fifth and final season of Stranger Things; however, there's no news yet on who she'll play, where she'll fit in, what relationship she'll have with the usual Hawkins crew, how many episodes that she'll feature in or if she'll be visiting the Upside Down — or how pivotal she'll be to the show's big farewell.

Hamilton, who also has everything from Children of the Corn, Dante's Peak and 80s series Beauty and the Beast through to Chuck and Claws on her resume, is the latest figure from four decades back to grace Stranger Things' frames. Winona Ryder (The Plot Against America) has been around since day one, of course, and Matthew Modine (Operation Varsity Blues), Sean Astin (Perry Mason), Paul Reiser (The Boys), Cary Elwes (Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre) and Robert Englund (Choose or Die) have all popped up as well.

While the show will finish with season five, that isn't the end of the Stranger Things universe. Back in 2022, creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that their sci-fi show was working towards its endgame, but also said that they had more stories to tell in this fictional realm. Instantly, we all knew what that meant. Netflix doesn't like letting go of its hits easily, after all, so the quest to find a way to keep wandering through this franchise was about as surprising as Jim Hopper's (David Harbour, Violent Night) usual gruff mood.

"Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things. At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you'll soon see for yourselves — we are now hurtling towards our finale," the Duffers said at the time.

"There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures and unexpected heroes," the Duffers continued.

Already that includes an animated Stranger Things series, which was also announced in 2022, doesn't yet have a name, but will boast the Duffer brothers as executive producers. Obviously, it's headed to Netflix.

There's no sneak peek at Stranger Things season five yet, but you can check out the trailer for season four below:

Stranger Things season five doesn't yet have a release date, but we'll update you when one is announced. You can the first four seasons now via Netflix — and read our review of season four.

Images: Terminator: Dark Fate / Netflix.