Stranger Things Season 5 Hires The Best Sci-Fi Director Working Today

Dan Trachetenberg, director of Prey and 10 Cloverfield Lane, will be behind the camera for an episode of Stranger Things final season.

By Douglas Helm | Updated

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Dan Trachtenberg, arguably one of the best sci-fi directors working today, will be directing an episode of Stranger Things‘ upcoming final season. Netflix announced the news on its Tudum blog. However, there’s no word yet on which episode of the season Trachtenberg will direct.

Dan Trachtenberg is best known for directing the 2016 film 10 Cloverfield Lane and last year’s surprise hit Predator reboot Prey. Trachtenberg clearly has a knack for taking on existing IP and bringing his own unique spin to it. It’ll be interesting to see his taut directorial style brought to the world the Duffer Brothers created with Stranger Things.

Dan Trachtenberg may be best known for his work on films, but he’s certainly no stranger to directing episodes of hit TV shows. Trachtenberg directed the episode “Playtest” of the anthology series Black Mirror and the very first episode of Amazon‘s now hit-show The Boys. With credits like those on his resume, he should have no problem taking on a massive hit like Stranger Things.

While we don’t know which episode Dan Trachtenberg will direct of Stranger Things, we do know that the first episode of the season is titled “The Crawl,” though that isn’t much to go off if you’re trying to guess what the episode is about. Maybe Trachtenberg will even get the lofty honor of taking on the season premiere. The last time we saw the Hawkins gang, the Upside Down was seeping into our world, so there will undoubtedly be some epic showdowns.

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Amber Midthunder in Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey

Along with learning that Dan Trachtenberg is directing an episode of Season 5 of Stranger Things, we can also likely expect to see most of the main cast return. This includes Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Priah Ferguson, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, David Harbour, and Winona Ryder. We should also be seeing Jamie Campbell Bower return as the villainous Vecna.

Before we got this exciting announcement that Dan Trachtenberg would be directing an episode of Stranger Things, we also got a bit of exciting casting news. At Netflix’s Tudum event, we confirmed our scoop that sci-fi legend Linda Hamilton would be joining the cast of the final season. Of course, this announcement was teed up by Netflix’s new Chief Action Officer and Hamilton’s Terminator co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger at the event.

The only downside to all of this exciting news is that we still don’t know when we can see Dan Trachtenberg’s episode of Stranger Things. The show has yet to announce a release date for the fifth and final season, and it’s possible that we may not even see it in 2024. Of course, that’s just speculation, but it would be a long wait if we don’t see the show end until 2025.

In the meantime, you can check out Dan Trachtenberg’s credentials before seeing his Stranger Things episode. The fantastic Prey is streaming on Hulu and stars Amber Midthunder as a Comanche warrior battling one of the first Predators to visit Earth. You can also stream the fantastic 10 Cloverfield Lane for free on YouTube.