Stranger Things season 5 is now officially under production. The popular Netflix show about supernatural happenings in small-town America has teased the fans of Upside Down with a picture of the crew from the first day of the shoot with the caption “THIS IS A CODE RED! STRANGER THINGS 5 production has officially begun!!!” The announcement has stirred quite an excitement among the fans, given that the filming was long delayed first due to the Hollywood writers’ strike followed by similar industrial action by the actors’ guild. Although the scripting for the fifth season began shortly after the fourth season aired, the creators decided not to go ahead with the production due to the strike.

🚨THIS IS A CODE RED🚨 STRANGER THINGS 5 production has officially begun!!! pic.twitter.com/TFN07WVbRD

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) January 8, 2024

The photograph, posted by the Stranger Things X account Monday, features creators Duffer brothers along with stars Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Cara Buono, Joe Keery, Amybeth McNulty, Charlie Heaton, Brett Gelman, Maya Hawke, Natalia Dyer, Jamie Campbell Bower, Priah Ferguson, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, and Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) — who is a new addition to the cast and has made a first official appearance alongside the cast since she announced joining the show at Netflix’s Tudum fan event last year. There’s currently no additional details about her character though.

This season will be the final one for Stranger Things, concluding the long-running sci-fi horror saga. Although the official storyline for the finale season isn’t out yet, actor David Harbour had previously confirmed to Variety that the season ending is “quite moving and quite beautiful.” The show is reportedly being shot in Atlanta, as hinted by the social media handles of filming studios like Atlanta Filming. The official release date for the season isn’t known yet.

Back in November, the show shared the first few lines from the first scene of the season, bringing back the familiar gloominess of the Upside Down. The premiere episode will be titled “The Crawl” — keeping up with the spookiness that the show is known for, as we venture back to Hawkins, Indiana, as our leads explore the history surrounding the parallel world of Upside Down.

While the fifth season will put an end to the story of Eleven and her friends, the creators might have another spin-off on their minds, as per the Duffer Brother’s February letter to the fans — “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes.” One of these was confirmed to be the Stranger Things animated series, which would function in the vein of ‘Saturday morning cartoons’ — presumably, featuring a retro art style to keep with the universe’s timeline.