The Stranger Things season 5 trailer confirms a longtime theory about Linda Hamilton’s character. From Winona Ryder to Sean Astin, the hit Netflix series has cast many prominent 1980s stars in the past, which always felt fitting given the show’s time period and pop culture nostalgia for that era.

Hamilton’s Stranger Things season 5 casting was first announced at Netflix’s Tudum fan event in June 2023. However, in the two years since the exciting initial announcement, all details about Hamilton’s mysterious character have been kept under wraps. That has finally changed with the season 5 trailer, which offers a notable glimpse at who she is playing.

Stranger Things Season 5 Confirms Theories That Linda Hamilton’s Character Is Connected To The Military

The Military Has Placed Hawkins Under Quarantine

The season 5 trailer shows Hamilton’s Stranger Things character heavily armed and marching into a facility with fellow soldiers. Her attire, her action-centered appearance, and the stars on her uniform confirm that she has an authority role within either the military or a government agency.

The military will continue to play an important role to play in season 5 as they place the town of Hawkins under military quarantine and continue the hunt for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) after she escaped from them in season 4. They have their own self-serving agenda when it comes to wanting Eleven’s powers for nefarious purposes.

Stranger Things‘ Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) will be the primary antagonist of season 5, but Hamilton’s military character is poised to be a secondary villain. She appears to be ruthless and will likely stop at nothing to keep the town under quarantine and to find Eleven, even if that means taking innocent lives.

As a military leader, Hamilton’s character may think she is doing what is best for the United States of America and for the rest of the world, but she is only endangering Eleven, along with any chance of defeating Vecna and closing the Rifts to the Upside Down that were opened in season 4.

Linda Hamilton’s Stranger Things Character Is Perfect After Her Terminator Role

She Continues To Be An Action Star

With Hamilton’s Stranger Things character being a fierce, gun-wielding individual, it is the perfect role for her after playing Sarah Connor in the Terminator movies. Her casting is a great nod to the original Terminator film released in 1984, the same decade Stranger Things takes place in.

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Stranger Things Season 5’s Surprising New Characters Risk Repeating One Of The Biggest Season 4 Complaints

While Stranger Things season 5 may be bringing the series to an end, early promotion has hinted that it may risk making a mistake that season 4 made.

Hamilton will seemingly be playing another formidable character at the heart of a story’s action sequences. The major difference is that her Stranger Things character seems to be villainous while Sarah Connor was a hero. Sarah Connor saved the world more than once, but in Stranger Things, Hamilton’s character will make saving the world more challenging.

Stranger Things

8/10

Release Date

2016 – 2025

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer

Directors

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock