Dustin Freaking Out In Stranger Things' Finale Trailer Has Me Theorizing About A Character Death (But Probably Not The One You'd Expect)

Listen, I’ve been riding the “I think Steve Harrington might die” train for years. However, as I’ve been watching Season 5 of Stranger Things, I’ve started to wonder if he’ll live, and a different pivotal character will bite the dust instead. Then, the trailer for the series finale dropped, and Dustin can be seen freaking out in it. It seems like he could be reacting to something very bad (like a death), and my theory about what he's seeing does not involve Steve dying.

Now, showing Gaten Matarazzo’s character reacting to something like that in the trailer implies one obvious thing to me: Steve will die. However, after looking at the image below and pondering it, I think we should be considering something other than the obvious.

Steve Dying Is Too Obvious

For years now, there have been theories that Steve could die, and as Season 5 has aired on the 2025 TV schedule, they’ve persisted. Plus, in the latest batch of episodes, his emotional reconciliation with Dustin, and their proclamation of “you die, I die” have certainly upped the emotional stakes of a loss like this.

So, it’s certainly possible that Joe Keery's character could die in the final episode. And that’s exactly why I don’t think it’ll be him. It’s way too obvious. They’ve been teasing and playing this up as a possibility, and at this point, I think they’re going to pivot away from it and shock us all.

Killing Steve is what many expect. Showing Dustin screaming in this trailer also totally plays into that idea, at least to me. Therefore, I’m actually leaning into a theory that a different character won’t make it out of this episode alive.

I Have A Theory That Mike Might Die

Alright, let’s do some process of elimination here. Personally, I think that Dustin would have the reaction above to almost any character dying, and I especially think he’d scream like that if Steve, Mike, Lucas or Will’s lives were on the line, since they’re his best friends.

With that in mind, as I said, I think killing Steve would be too expected. I also don’t think they’ll kill Lucas, because I really think he and Max will stay together. I really don’t think Will will be the one to go down either, considering all he’s been through (and the fact that that would kill Joyce). So, that leaves Mike.

I’ve been playing with the theory that Finn Wolfhard’s Mike could be the character who dies in this episode, and this trailer has me really leaning into it now.

Think about it, he’s had quite the hero’s journey this season (especially in Volume 1). His helping Holly find her bravery with Holly the Heroic, and saving all those kids in Episode 4, was amazing. He's also determined to save his little sister. He’s proved how much he’s grown and how selfless he can be, so one final heroic move would be a great and very emotional way for him to go.

I also think it’d hit really hard since Mike started out as kind of the ring leader for these kids, especially in Season 1. So, his death would be incredibly tragic, but also meaningful.

So, in summary, no, I don’t think Steve will die; I think Mike might instead. However, I could be wrong, and really, anything can happen in the final episode of Stranger Things. So, make sure you tune in to find out what Dustin is screaming at when the series finale of this beloved show becomes available to those with a Netflix subscription on December 31.