Have you heard the news? Terminator star Linda Hamilton has been confirmed to be joining the cast of Netflix’s Stranger Things for the final ever season of the series aka season 5.
Hamilton will potentially be starring alongside returning cast members such as Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, and Gaten Matarazzo, among the rest of the iconic Stranger Things ensemble which will close the series with season 5.
Netflix‘s cast announcement for Hamilton was far from a small deal as they lit up the giant outdoor screens during their 2023 live TUDUM event.
However, one question that remains unanswered is who she will be playing and if it will be somebody related in any way to the already well-established list of characters introduced throughout the years.
Popular Theory: Linda Hamilton Will Be Future Eleven
We’ve seen your theories… and you might be right!
It has already been theorised by many that Hamilton might actually be joining the final season to play none other than Eleven herself.
Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven aka Jane Hopper may be shown in a flash forward into the future for some reason with Hamilton on the other side.
Unless… the theories are true and literal time travel will be introduced during the final season, something that was highly expected to be heavily adapted in season 4.
More Stranger Things News: Netflix Announces ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Production Before Quickly Deleting
It would be a great nod to the time travel flicks of the 80s but also make perfect sense as to why Hamilton has been cast.
See below for our time travel theory breakdown.
Theory: Stranger Things 5 Might Have Time Travel
How time travel in Stranger Things with Linda Hamilton makes sense plus what it could mean and cause to happen in the final season.
Stranger Things is famously known for using elements from various pieces of the 1980s which could mean time travel might be heading to Hawkins.
One thing that 1980s Hollywood loved more than anything was introducing the element of time travel with movies such as Back to the Future and The Terminator dominating the box office for years.
Not to mention that Hamilton is literally a main star in the time travelling-focused Terminator franchise, which would be a fun easter egg of sorts.
Similar to how the Duffer brothers cast A Nightmare on Elm Street star Robert Englund joined in season 4 to play Victor Creel, the father of the main antagonist now known as Vecna.
Englund’s iconic slasher villain Freddy Krueger has been referenced multiple times in Stranger Things 4 with one set piece even including a literal cardboard cutout of him.
So it would be safe to assume that Hamilton joining to helm a time travel storyline could be on the cards to continue the series’ meta references.
Maybe we will even get to see her Eleven side by side with Brown’s Eleven as they both use time travel to team up and take down Vecna.
We will just have to wait for more updates from the cast and crew of the final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
Stranger Things Season 5 has yet to announce a release date.
