Netflix released the official trailer for Stranger Things 5 Thursday morning and it’s an excellent bit of trailer-craft. I was hesitant to even watch it because so often movies and TV shows (and even video games) get trailers that simply give away far too much. I don’t want the plot spoiled. I don’t want details.
What I want is the vibe, and that’s what this trailer gives in spades. The dark, serious tone helps ground us in the reality of a Hawkins under military quarantine. Hopper (David Harbour) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) each have scenes involving holding or firing assault rifles. Even Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), normally a source of comic relief, looks stoic and filled with resolve, likely still in mourning over the loss of Eddie (Joseph Quinn). At one point we see him crying as Steve (Joe Keery) hugs him close.
There are numerous demogorgons in the trailer, much to the dismay of the soldiers presumably overwhelmed when the Upside Down spills over into Hawkins. We get more of the hospital scene from the first trailer, though this time Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) is carrying a presumably still-comatose Max (Sadie Sink) as he flees a demadog.
We also get a group hug with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) which makes me a little nervous, given how precarious Will’s (Noah Schnapp) fate is by the end of the trailer, when Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has him in his nefarious clutches.
We see Joyce (Winona Ryder) in a tunnel that looks a lot like the tunnels from Season 2. And the whole gang gets together at one point planning how to take down Vecna, minus Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Hopper, who are presumably off on their own adventure. Eleven’s powers appear to have grown significantly.
The kids are older now, and the stakes are higher than ever. But one small detail jumped out at me during a scene between Eleven and Mike (Finn Wolfhard). “This isn’t like one of your campaigns,” Eleven tells Mike. “You don’t get to write the ending. Not this time.” She cups Mike’s face in her hand and he looks crestfallen.
This is a classic misunderstanding of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s also a trap many Dungeon Masters (DMs) fall into either because they’re inexperienced or because they misunderstand their role in the game.
A DM acts as the referee and adjudicator in D&D. They craft the story and guide players through a campaign. But unlike an author of a fantasy novel, or the writers on a TV show like Stranger Things, a DM does not have total control over the story, let alone how it ends. Players are involved in that process and their choices – and the luck of the dice – shape the story every bit as much as the Dungeon Master, no matter how carefully a DM has planned.
A good DM doesn’t write the ending at all, is my point. A good DM leaves that ending wide open. When I run a game (whether it’s D&D or one of the myriad other great tabletop roleplaying games – TTRPGs – out there) I rarely even have an ending in mind. My goal as a DM is to create sandboxes for my players to play in, and have some potential conflicts or quests waiting in the wings.
It’s important to have options at your disposal, including fun enemy encounters and interesting NPCs, but it’s equally important to let the players explore and come up with their own solutions. Players should drive the story. DM’s should facilitate that in creative ways. You have to be light on your feet. If you plan too much or try to railroad the party, you’ll either waste your time or have unhappy players who feel that their choices are meaningless.
Now, it’s possible that Eleven simply doesn’t understand D&D since she never seemed to get involved in any of the games the boys played (which is a shame; it would have been much better than all the lovey dovey stuff they forced into the show). It’s also possible that Mike is one of those DMs that has to have everything just so and writes out meticulous endings. I was mostly just surprised by the line because of how badly it misunderstands D&D, when D&D is such a core part of Stranger Things.
Here’s the trailer:
In related news, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have released a new D&D 5th Edition Starter Box called Welcome to the Hellfire Club. As you can tell by the name, the boxed set is based on Eddie’s D&D group from Season 4. This is a good place to start if you’re new to D&D. It includes all the rules you’ll need to get started, plus several adventures, a set of dice, a poster and some maps, character sheets and a bunch of very retro cards for spells, magic items and monsters.
The best part? You’ll be able to play Eddie’s campaign to its conclusion. That campaign was, tragically, left unfinished by the Hellfire Club due to the rather horrific events that transpired last season. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re thinking about getting into D&D or if you just want to add it to your collection of D&D and/or Stranger Things goodies.
Stranger Things 5 releases in three volumes, with the first coming to Netflix in November. The episode lengths for Volume 1 were revealed recently as well, giving us a clue as to just how much content this season will have. I’m pretty pleased by the runtimes, as they’re certainly not short but also not nearly as long as they were rumored to be.
Are you looking forward to Stranger Things 5 after all these years? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
