Before Stranger Things closes the door on Hawkins for good, Netflix is giving fans one last stopover behind the scenes. On January 12, 2026 at 9:00 a.m., the streamer is releasing The Final Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, a feature documentary that chronicles how the landmark series built its final season from the ground up.
A Year Inside the Stranger Things 5 Production
Instead of a glossy promo reel, The Final Adventure is structured as a long-form, boots-on-the-ground look at the production. Directed by Martina Radwan, the documentary follows the cast and crew of Stranger Things over the course of nearly a year as they race to complete the show’s last chapter.
The film unfolds in chronological order, tracking the evolution of Season 5 from early rehearsals through complex set pieces. Viewers see how staging is refined, how creative decisions shift day by day, and how hundreds of people coordinate to land an ambitious series finale on time and at scale. Rather than commenting on the story of Hawkins itself, the documentary focuses on the nuts and bolts of bringing that story to the screen.
Lighting tests, blocking changes, stunt coordination, VFX planning, and department-to-department communication all get meaningful screen time. The goal isn’t to romanticize the set but to reveal the production as it really functions: messy, collaborative, exhausting, and deeply human.
A Long Goodbye to a Defining Genre Series
Beyond craft, The Final Adventure leans heavily into the emotional weight of ending a show that has been part of people’s lives for a decade. The documentary gradually turns into a kind of end-of-era diary: actors, longtime crew members, and the creative leadership reflect on what it means to say goodbye to Stranger Things as both a piece of pop culture and a personal milestone.
Launched ten years earlier, Stranger Things helped shape an entire wave of nostalgia-driven, genre TV in the U.S. and around the world. For the people who built it—from day-one electricians to breakout stars—the series isn’t just a job; it’s a time capsule of their 20s, 30s, or even 40s. The documentary lingers on that sense of “lived time”: memories stacked across seasons, relationships formed in the trenches of night shoots, and the bittersweet necessity of bringing a beloved story to a close.
By centering this long-term perspective, the film distances itself from the typical “bonus feature” approach. It treats the end of Stranger Things as both an industrial event and an intimate, generational moment for the people who kept returning to Hawkins, Indiana year after year.
Watch the Official Making-Of Tease
Netflix has already started teasing the tone and scope of the documentary with an official video preview:
Why the Duffer Brothers Wanted a Real Making-Of, Not Just Extra Content
Series creators Matt and Ross Duffer use the documentary to revive something that has largely faded in the streaming era: the in-depth, standalone making-of film. Influenced by the extensive production documentaries that accompanied The Lord of the Rings DVDs, the Duffers pushed for a project that could stand as its own work rather than a collection of clipped soundbites.
The idea is simple but increasingly rare. As physical media continues to disappear in the U.S., many behind-the-scenes materials have been reduced to a handful of quick social clips or short featurettes designed to surface briefly on homepages and then vanish. The Final Adventure rejects that model. It is shaped as a fully realized documentary that can be watched on its own, even if you’re not immediately rewatching Season 5.
That approach also means fewer marketing filters. The documentary emphasizes process over promotion, with space for frustration, fatigue, doubts, and creative course corrections alongside the big triumphs.
How The Documentary Mirrors the Stranger Things 5 Finale
Produced by Angus Wall, Terry Leonard, and Kent Kubena for MakeMake Productions, The Final Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 works as a subtle counterpoint to the narrative of the final season.
While the fiction jumps to the fall of 1987 and brings the showdown with Vecna to a close, the documentary tracks a different conflict: the internal and collective struggle to complete such a massive project. The film follows creative decisions under pressure, the physical and mental toll of production, and the constant balance between ambition and practicality on set.
Crucially, the documentary never spoils or directly explains the plot. Instead, it sheds light on why certain creative choices were made—how set design supports mood, how the performances evolved through rehearsal, how stunts and visual effects were staged to ground supernatural elements in something tactile.
That makes the film useful for multiple audiences: longtime fans who want a deeper connection to the final season, aspiring filmmakers curious about large-scale TV production in Hollywood, and casual viewers who enjoy understanding what it truly takes to land the ending of a series this influential.
Why This Release Matters Now for U.S. Streaming Culture
Dropping on Netflix starting January 12, 2026, The Final Adventure arrives at a pivotal moment for the American streaming landscape. As platforms recalibrate their strategies after years of explosive growth, investing in a comprehensive, non-promotional making-of documentary signals that Netflix still sees value in rich, long-tail content around its flagship shows.
For U.S. audiences used to bingeing and moving on, this project invites a slower, more reflective engagement with one of the most important series of the last decade. It turns the end of Stranger Things into an opportunity to step behind the camera one last time before letting Hawkins fade into TV history.
Release Date and How to Watch
The Final Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix on January 12, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. (local time, per platform settings). No additional subscription tier is required beyond a standard Netflix plan.
SEO Snapshot: Key Details at a Glance
- Title: The Final Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5
- Format: Feature-length behind-the-scenes documentary
- Director: Martina Radwan
- Producers: Angus Wall, Terry Leonard, Kent Kubena (MakeMake Productions)
- Platform: Netflix
- Release date: January 12, 2026 – 9:00 a.m.
- Focus: Production of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things
FAQ
What is The Final Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 about?
The documentary offers a detailed, year-long look at how the team behind Stranger Things created the fifth and final season. It follows cast and crew through rehearsals, staging, technical coordination, and day-to-day production challenges, emphasizing the real process of building the series finale.
Who is behind the Stranger Things Season 5 making-of documentary?
The Final Adventure is directed by Martina Radwan and produced by Angus Wall, Terry Leonard, and Kent Kubena for MakeMake Productions, with creative input and support from series creators Matt and Ross Duffer.
When and where can I watch the documentary?
The Final Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 streams exclusively on Netflix starting January 12, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. It is included with a standard Netflix subscription and does not require an additional purchase.
Does the documentary spoil the plot of Stranger Things Season 5?
No. While the film is closely tied to the production of the final season, it is designed to avoid explicit story spoilers. The focus is on how Season 5 was made—creative choices, technical work, and the emotional experience of ending the series—rather than on detailing specific twists or resolutions in the narrative.
