Stranger Things Theory Suggests Season 5 Will Jump Back In Time To 1 Key Moment

Summary Season 5 of Stranger Things may go back in time to a key event in the series, like Will's disappearance.

A time jump into the future for Season 5 may skip important events in Hawkins and its residents.

The show may rely on flashbacks to explore Will's past and the Upside Down, rather than literal time travel.

Stranger Things season 5 is said to have a time jump, but a theory suggests that, instead of going forward, it will go back in time to one key moment in the series. After four successful seasons full of twists and turns and shocking reveals, Stranger Things is ending with its fifth season, but it has many questions to answer. Stranger Things season 4 ended on a major cliffhanger after the crew failed to kill Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), and even worse, Max (Sadie Sink) couldn’t be saved after her encounter with him, leaving her in a coma.

Max’s almost deadly encounter with Vecna was what the latter needed to set his destructive plans into motion, and Stranger Things season 4 ended with the Upside Down slowly but surely taking over Hawkins. Production of Stranger Things season 5 went through different obstacles and delays, which inevitably impacted the story the Duffer Brothers had planned. Season 5 will most likely include a time jump, and though it’s believed to be into the future, a theory suggests it will actually be into the past, to one specific moment from season 1.

Related Stranger Things Season 5 Will Struggle To Top The Show's Most Disturbing Scene The Hawkins Lab massacre is the most disturbing scene in Stranger Things season 4, but can season 5 top it? And, more importantly, should it?

Stranger Things Season 5 Theory Says It Will Go Back To Will’s Disappearance

Stranger Things Season 5’s Time Jump Might Be Different

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Photos from the set of Stranger Things season 5 have fueled the belief of a time jump into the future in the first episodes, but the final season could take a big shot at time traveling and, instead, go back to the past. A theory, shared on Reddit, suggests the time jump in Stranger Things season 5 will be into the past, to one specific moment: Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) disappearance in season 1. Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) interaction with the Demogorgon was what opened a gate to the Upside Down in season 1, thus setting the monster free.

Will was rescued from the Upside Down by his mother, Joyce, and Jim Hopper almost a week after his kidnapping.

The Demogorgon went after Will Byers when he was on his way back home from Mike’s (Finn Wolhard) house after a game of Dungeons & Dragons with his friends. The disappearance of Will Byers was the event that kicked off Stranger Things season 1, and what led the characters to discover the Upside Down and some of the horrifying creatures living in it, such as the Demogorgon. Will was rescued from the Upside Down by his mother, Joyce (Winona Ryder), and Jim Hopper (David Harbour) almost a week after his kidnapping, becoming the only person to have survived so long in the other dimension.

Stranger Things season 5 has been teased to go back to the show’s roots, and it’s expected to focus more on Will.

Will’s time in the Upside Down had serious effects on him, as it left him with a connection to the other dimension and the Mind Flayer. Although he was saved from this creature’s possession in Stranger Things season 2, the ending of season 4 showed that he still has some connection to it, as he could feel how the Upside Down was starting to take over Hawkins before they saw the spores falling down. Stranger Things season 5 has been teased to go back to the show’s roots, and it’s expected to focus more on Will.

It wouldn’t be surprising, then, if Stranger Things season 5 went back in time to his disappearance. The author of the theory uses one line said by Nancy (Natalia Dyer) in season 4 about how she crawled backwards as a baby and a season 5 episode title (“The Crawl”) to support the idea, and set photos of Castle Byers can also fuel the theory.

Going back to the day Will disappeared can help Stranger Things answer the biggest questions about it and Will’s time in the Upside Down, such as why he was targeted by the Demorgogon, why it didn’t kill him as it did with others, and how Will survived almost a whole week in the Upside Down. These specific moments could hold the key to Vecna’s defeat, as there could be something that the Hawkins crew had been missing all this time.

Stranger Things Season 5 Having A Time Jump Into The Future Doesn’t Make Sense

Stranger Things Season 5’s Time Jump Into The Future Would Be Risky

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Jumping a couple of months (or even just weeks) into the future in season 5 would skip many important things about Hawkins and its residents.

Although a time jump into the future would be the most obvious option for Stranger Things season 5, it doesn’t make much sense. As mentioned above, Stranger Things season 4 ended on a very bleak note for Hawkins and its residents. A massive earthquake provoked by Vecna and the Upside Down led many residents to leave town, but those who stayed saw how the other dimension started to take over. Jumping a couple of months (or even just weeks) into the future in season 5 would skip many important things about Hawkins and its residents now that the Upside Down was bleeding into the human world.

It wouldn’t make much sense to catch up with the characters weeks later as their world continues to be taken over by a dark parallel dimension, and the audience would be missing out on a lot of stuff. Although it’s understandable that Stranger Things season 5 could use a time jump into the future, especially as its young cast doesn’t look like they did at the end of season 4 anymore, there’s more at risk by skipping weeks or months.

A Backwards Time Jump In Stranger Things Season 5 Faces Many Challenges

Going Back In Time In Stranger Things Season 5 Is Trickier Than It Sounds

A time jump into the past in Stranger Things season 5, especially if it goes back to Will’s disappearance, sounds interesting, but it faces many challenges. First off is how traveling back in time would be possible. Before season 4 was released, many theories said the gate opened by the Russians underneath Starcourt Mall could be a portal that allowed the characters to travel back in time. There are now huge cracks across Hawkins that lead to the Upside Down, so it could still be possible that these could be the key to time traveling.

One big challenge, though this one is behind-the-scenes, is how the younger version of the characters would be portrayed.

Another big question is why the Hawkins crew would go back in time, though that can have an easy answer as Max is still in a coma and Vecna is alive, somewhere. There’s also the question of who would go back in time to the day Will disappeared, as surely not all the Hawkins crew could go back in time and return to their present without complications of any kind.

One big challenge, though this one is behind-the-scenes, is how the younger version of the characters would be portrayed – they could either be de-aged through CGI or there could be unseen footage from season 1 used for those scenes. Last but not least, is the huge question of what the rules of time traveling in Stranger Things would be, as these change in every movie and TV show.

Stranger Things Season 5 Will Most Likely Rely On Flashbacks

Stranger Things Season 5 Might Not Literally Go Back In Time

Stranger Things season 5 is more likely to answer all questions about Will’s disappearance and time in the Upside Down through flashbacks.

As fun as it would be to see time travel in Stranger Things, more so if it’s to the day Will Byers disappeared, it’s unlikely that will happen. Stranger Things season 5 is more likely to answer all the above-mentioned questions about Will’s disappearance and time in the Upside Down through flashbacks (hence why the return of Castle Byers). Going back to previous events through flashbacks would be a lot easier in terms of production and narrative, but Stranger Things is known for surprising its audience, and in its final season, anything could happen.