Will STRANGER THINGS 5 Wormhole Its Way to a BACK TO THE FUTURE Ending?

The idea that Stranger Things might involve time travel isn’t recent – it predates season 5. Back in Stranger Things 3, producer and director Shawn Levy hinted at references to Back to the Future, and the show delivered. Then, season 4 featured a grandfather clock as a key symbol for a time-hating demon living in a dimension where time works differently. I actually wrote about this potential connection in Stranger Things and time travel back in April 2022, even before season 4 came out.

Between Vecna’s ominous talk of a coming time and the subtle hints throughout the show, it seems likely that Stranger Things is going to introduce time travel. This might be the only way the characters can ultimately win against the Upside Down. Perhaps the best solution isn’t to fight the monsters, but to go back in time and prevent the portal to the Upside Down from ever being opened.

Watching the first part of Stranger Things 5, it really feels like the only way things can be fixed in Hawkins is if they somehow go back in time. The show has hinted at time travel before, but this time it feels like they’ve actually figured out how to make it happen. Looking back, it’s clear they’ve been laying the groundwork for this since the very beginning – something about powerful electromagnetic waves and a wormhole could lead to a *Back to the Futurestyle ending, and honestly, I’m on the edge of my seat to see if it will!

Wormholes and Time Travel in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1

Throughout Stranger Things, Mr. Clarke, the boys’ science teacher, has helped explain complex ideas and historical events that relate to the show’s plot. He’s also been used to hint at what’s to come. That’s why his brief appearance in the first episodes of Stranger Things 5 is significant. Of all the topics he could have been teaching, Mr. Clarke is lecturing about wormholes at the precise moment we see him.

In Stranger Things 5, Mr. Clarke explained wormholes to Erica’s class, saying they’re fascinating because they let things travel between galaxies or even different dimensions without actually moving through the space in between. But what he said next was particularly memorable. He pointed out, in Stranger Things 5, Volume 1, that wormholes could potentially allow humans to travel to other galaxies or even other time periods.

Even just hearing the phrase “another time” during this strangely timed science class is a big clue. But the way this lesson about wormholes and time travel in Stranger Things 5 connects to something Mr. Clarke said way back in season one makes it even more significant.

“There’s A World Out There Where None of This Tragic Stuff Ever Happened”

Following Will’s funeral in the first season, the boys questioned their teacher about the possibility of other dimensions and how someone might travel between them. Mr. Clarke explained the concept of “The Flea and the Acrobat,” a crucial scientific idea that inspired the episode’s title. He discussed both the difficulties of creating a portal to another dimension and the potential consequences if one were to open.

According to Mr. Clarke, as discussed in Stranger Things, opening a portal would require an enormous amount of energy – far more than we can currently produce. This energy would essentially rip open a hole in time and space, creating a doorway. If such a portal were opened, it would have catastrophic consequences, disrupting gravity, the magnetic field, and potentially even destroying everything around it.

The boys were already aware of the existence of a portal. However, it wasn’t until Stranger Things 4 that anyone discovered Vecna’s ability to create portals through murder. Each death generated enough energy to open a doorway between dimensions, and with four killings, he was able to tear a massive rift through the town of Hawkins.

With the final season underway, something Arthur C. Clarke said during a previous discussion is really hitting home. Before diving into the science of time and space, Clarke explained how infinite parallel universes would play out in Stranger Things. He pointed out that there’s a universe where none of the terrible events of the show ever took place.

It’s a lovely idea, but as Mr. Clarke pointed out, science is precise and doesn’t allow for mistakes. Even if a world like that existed, we’d need a way to reach it. Interestingly, the latest season of Stranger Things suggests Vecna may have created a pathway using a scientific principle that’s been central to the show all along.

Vecna’s Strange Spire Creation, Wormholes, and Electromagnetic Waves on Stranger Things 5

In the fifth season of Stranger Things, a particularly strange new element was introduced. When Will connected with the central consciousness of the Upside Down, he glimpsed something Vecna was desperately trying to hide. It was a large, oval-shaped structure with twelve towers, all focused around a symbol resembling the Boy Scout emblem from Henry Creel’s childhood. Each tower appears to be connected to a child – Will saw Holly and the three children Vecna had previously captured, all linked by vines extending down their throats. Will explained that Holly seemed to be becoming part of this structure, as if it was actively affecting her.

It appears Vecna’s tower is connected to the strange, fleshy barrier surrounding the Upside Down – he actually built it within that world. We know he used the barrier to reach his tower, and Eleven hasn’t been able to break through it with her powers. She can’t even see Holly through the barrier, despite evidence suggesting Holly is physically trapped inside.

Henry Creel, like Vecna, is fascinated with time, and in the upcoming fifth season of Stranger Things, his tower-like creation has twelve sections, resembling a clock face. After everything that’s happened, we’re starting to think nothing is a coincidence. However, it’s still unclear what the strange, fleshy wall is, how it relates to the tower, if time travel is involved, or Vecna’s overall plan. But it’s possible Stranger Things has already given us all the clues we need to understand it.

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— annie ♡ (@sprinqleaf) November 27, 2025

Some fans have pointed out that the wormhole drawn by Mr. Clarke in Stranger Things looks similar to Vecna’s strange tower. However, others have observed that this tower—which shares some resemblance to the Mind Flayer—actually appears more like a depiction of electromagnetic waves, especially in the upcoming Stranger Things 5.

And if there’s one thing Stranger Things loves to talk about, it’s electromagnetism.

Electromagnetic Fields! Waves! Magnets! Science!

Mr. Clarke began by detailing how a connection between a dark dimension and our world would interfere with the Earth’s magnetic field. This is precisely what occurred with the Mothergate at Hawkins Lab – the initial portal to another world, now forming the core of the strange, organic barrier. However, Joyce Byers wasn’t his only student to receive an electromagnetism lesson. In season three, he also helped a confused Joyce understand why her magnets wouldn’t stick to her refrigerator, a key element of the plot in Stranger Things 3.

Throughout Stranger Things, electromagnetic waves and the science behind them have been central to the plot. The show blends science fiction with real scientific ideas, often explained clearly by Mr. Clarke. Now, it seems all of Mr. Clarke’s lessons are coming together, as actual scientific theories connect electromagnetic waves to the possibility of wormholes.

Theoretical Concepts for Creating Wormholes With Electromagnetic Waves

I’m not a physicist – definitely not one from Hawkins, Indiana! So, instead of trying to explain this myself, I’ll point you to a paper published in Nature by Jordi Prat-Camps, Carles Navau, and Alvaro Sanchez, titled “A Magnetic Wormhole.” It details the theoretical possibility of creating a wormhole specifically for electromagnetic waves.

The scientific idea of a “magnetostatic wormhole” might not be exactly what Vecna is up to in Stranger Things. We don’t know how he could use electromagnetic waves to create or travel through a wormhole, and this research paper doesn’t suggest he is. However, the paper does demonstrate that wormholes and electromagnetic waves are compatible concepts within real scientific theory, which has always been a key element of the science behind Stranger Things‘ Upside Down.

So, in the upcoming season of Stranger Things, Mr. Clarke lays out a pretty wild theory: wormholes aren’t just about traveling to different locations, but potentially through time itself! And honestly, it feels like that’s key to beating Vecna. The show seems to be hinting that exploiting time – something Vecna clearly despises – is our best shot at taking him down.

Vecna’s Hatred of Time Itself on Stranger Things

In Stranger Things 4, One explained to Eleven that his dislike of people came from a deeper resentment of time itself.

Humans are a strange kind of problem – we reproduce rapidly, damage the planet, and then impose a rigid, artificial system on everything. What others call order, I see as a suffocating constraint – a harsh world governed by pointless rules. Life becomes a repetitive cycle: waking, eating, working, sleeping, having children, and eventually dying. It feels like everyone is simply waiting for it all to end, acting out a meaningless role day after day. I couldn’t participate in that. I refused to numb myself and join the charade, and I came to understand that I didn’t need to.

When Eleven created a gateway between her dimension and the Upside Down, it allowed Vecna to return to the real world. He then used his connection to Will and the Mind Flayer to secretly observe and target potential victims. In season four of Stranger Things, Vecna taunted his victims by showing them a grandfather clock – a reminder of his childhood home in Hawkins.

This situation highlighted again that Vecna, much like famous villains who fight against time and death, desires a world free from the limitations of human existence. He believes humanity holds him back, so he created his own timeless realm.

The Weird Way Time Works (Or Doesn’t Work) in the Upside Down

Eleven didn’t send One to the Upside Down directly. Instead, she exiled him to another dimension—revealed in the Stranger Things play to be Dimension X—which he described as a pristine world untouched by humans, even time itself. There, he discovered demogorgons and other monsters that would later terrorize Hawkins. He also met the Mind Flayer again, and claimed this encounter helped him reach his full power. It was after this that he created the Upside Down, making it a dimension completely of his own and under his control.

In the world of Stranger Things, time works differently in the Upside Down compared to our own. It seems to be frozen at the moment Will Byers was first taken there by Vecna on November 6, 1983. Essentially, the Upside Down exists perpetually at that single point in time, within a fleshy barrier surrounding the Hawkins location. Nancy Wheeler figured this out while exploring the Upside Down years later.

Okay, so the way time works in the Upside Down is seriously creepy – it’s like everything froze the instant someone first entered. But here’s the thing: Vecna doesn’t just want to control time, he wants to erase it completely. He basically told Eleven his master plan is to remake the world, and that means getting rid of time as we know it, everywhere. It’s a pretty terrifying goal, honestly.

It seems he gains power by controlling entire worlds. Considering he’s lived in three different worlds, we might now understand his motives for taking Holly Wheeler and the others.

Vecna Will Use His 12 Kids to Add Stability to His Wormhole on Stranger Things, Allowing Him to Travel Through Time and Space

Mr. Clarke finished his lesson on wormholes and time travel for Erica’s class by pointing out a major flaw with the idea. He explained that if wormholes were real, they would be incredibly unstable and instantly destroyed by their own intense gravity. The show Stranger Things has always focused on the importance of power and energy, and this concept fits right in.

In the first season, Mr. Clarke explained that humans lacked the power to open a portal to another dimension. However, Eleven proved him wrong by doing just that. Later, Vecna created a much larger tear in reality throughout Hawkins by killing four people – their deaths provided the energy he needed. But a wormhole, particularly one allowing travel between worlds and through time, is far more complex than a simple portal. It would likely require a vastly different, and much greater, source of energy.

The show Stranger Things suggests that a permanent gateway to the alternate dimension known as the Upside Down – and even through time – could be opened by building a special device that needs the energy of twelve children to function.

As a long-time fan, I was absolutely horrified by Vecna’s latest move. It wasn’t just about killing; he murdered four people just to create a gateway between worlds. But what really chilled me was how he didn’t immediately go after Holly and her classmates. He actually befriended them first. Then, he trapped Holly in a blissful, sensory-rich memory – all food and music – while horrifyingly connecting her physical body to this…wall of flesh. Will says those vines attaching the kids to the wall aren’t just holding them, they’re changing them, and that’s the scariest part. It’s not just a physical threat; it’s a transformation, and I’m dreading what that means.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what Vecna is doing to people, not just that he’s changing them. Is he making them into super-powered soldiers or terrifying creatures? Possibly. But what if he’s actually turning them into something like living batteries for a much bigger plan? Something that could stabilize a massive wormhole, like the one connecting our world to the Upside Down? It would explain what Mr. Clarke warned us about way back in season one – that a pathway between worlds could potentially destroy everything.

Vecna may be plotting something terrifying, hinted at by the “beautiful” future he described to Will. The final season of Stranger Things suggests he could be generating a powerful electromagnetic field – using living beings as the source – to open a massive wormhole. This could merge our world and Dimension X into his Upside Down, allowing him to control everything forever, without the limitations of people or time.

If the current direction of Stranger Things is intentional, the show has been subtly preparing for it since the very beginning. This could mean the series is building towards a long-teased finale involving time travel.

Time Travel on Stranger Things: The Duffers Plans to Bring the Ending “Full Circle”

Before the fifth season of Stranger Things began, the creators, the Duffer Brothers, stated their intention to bring the story back to where it started. The season opened with a flashback to Will’s initial experience with Vecna in the Upside Down, setting this plan in motion. The first part of the season also included clear nods to the film Back to the Future—a show already known for its references to the Terminator movies. Like A Wrinkle in Time, which concludes with the heroes returning to the start of their journey after defeating evil, Stranger Things 5 aimed to create a similar circular narrative.

The show Stranger Things heavily features time travel, which is fitting considering the villain’s story revolves around it. The creators might use time travel to wrap up the series and bring it to a satisfying conclusion. Vecna’s portal could potentially be reversed, allowing Eleven and her friends to prevent the current conflict before it begins. Perhaps Eleven could even go back in time and stop young Henry Creel from entering Dimension X, preventing the rise of the Mind Flayer and all the resulting deaths. Alternatively, she might be able to prevent herself from initially opening the portal to the Upside Down, which would at least save Hawkins from all its troubles.

A time travel conclusion for Stranger Things could erase the impact of everything that’s happened so far, making it feel like the whole story didn’t matter. While some viewers might enjoy that kind of reset, many would likely find it frustrating and unsatisfying. Luckily, the creators, the Duffer Brothers, have stated they wouldn’t go that route. Interestingly, neither A Wrinkle in Time nor Back to the Future – two major influences on Stranger Things 5 – ended with time travel undoing everything, which suggests the show won’t either.

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly’s journey through time dramatically altered his life. He came back to a present where his family was happy and thriving. Although everyone in Hill Valley had forgotten the original timeline thanks to Doc Brown’s time machine, Marty remembered everything. His experiences, and the changes they caused, were significant not only for him, Doc, and Jennifer, but for everyone, even if they were unaware of the difference. These events were permanently real, existing beyond any shifts in the past, present, or future.

Imagine if all the heroes who battled Vecna and the Upside Down could travel back in time to the very beginning of their fight, remembering everything – just like Marty McFly in Back to the Future. Then, all the events of Stranger Things would still happen as we know them, even with time travel involved. The biggest change? Characters like Barb, Bob, Benny, Billy, Chrissy, Eddie, and the entire Creel family – everyone who died fighting Vecna – would be alive and well.

Ending Stranger Things like Back to the Future would bring the story neatly to a close, creating a sense of completion. This would suit a show so fond of the 1980s and would fulfill a hopeful idea presented early in the series – the possibility of a world where the characters avoided all the hardship they’ve faced.

Wormholes, electromagnetic waves, and the possibility of time travel… is this real science explored through science fiction? And is the finale of Stranger Things, titled “The Rightside Up,” a fitting tribute to a classic 80s film? It certainly feels like a nod to Back to the Future!

Mikey Walsh writes for TopMob and is always working hard. You can find him on Bluesky at @burgermike, and he’s also likely to be found debating the best Targaryen kings.

2025-12-03 19:38