Stranger Things Season 5: Linda Hamilton joins the cast

While the WGA strike delayed filming for Stranger Things Season 5, the cast was on hand for Netflix’s Tudum event. And now, it looks like another eighties icon, Linda Hamilton, is gearing up to join the cast.

Here’s the official announcement via Twitter:

?Breaking News From #TUDUM?

Linda Hamilton is joining the cast of Stranger Things 5! pic.twitter.com/qYJMeGS700

— Netflix (@netflix) June 17, 2023

Details of her role are being kept close to the chest, but given the Duffer Bros’ devotion to all things eighties, one can assume that the former Sarah Connor will get the chance to do something cool. She’s only one of the beloved eighties vets that have shown up on the show, with Heathers‘ star Winona Ryder leading the cast and The Goonies‘ icon Sean Astin having played a memorable role in season two. Matthew Modine, who was a big heartthrob throughout the decade, plays one of the show’s prominent antagonists, Martin Brenner, while Paul Reiser, Robert Englund and more have also had decent parts.

Of course, the season itself won’t premiere for a while, with production on indefinite hold until at least the end of the WGA strike (and let’s not forget a potential SAG strike). This is due to be the final season of Stranger Things, with the Duffer Bros teasing a time jump, which is needed given the fact that the former child actors will all be adults by the time the show ends. It’s hard to imagine, but in the chronology of the show, only something like three years have passed since the first season. It’s been seven years in the real world and probably closer to eight by the time the last season makes its debut.

Even if this is the end of Stranger Things as we know it, the franchise is set to continue, with an animated series officially greenlit a few months ago. As it’s Netflix’s biggest property, it seems unlikely to think that the franchise will ever really truly be done.