Everything we have known about the Upside Down is “dead wrong”, Gaten Matarazzo’s Dustin says in the trailer of the second volume of Stranger Things Season 5, slated to hit Netflix on 26 December.

Dropped by Netflix on Monday, the two-minute-13-second-long trailer begins on a grim note, with Dustin implying that there is a twist to the Upside Down, setting the tone for the remaining episodes of the final season.

The trailer shows Hawkins on the brink of collapsing and the residents racing against time to protect the town from Vecna once and for all. The Hawkins gang teams up to uncover the secrets of the Upside Down and desperately find a way to end the looming threat.

When Will (Noah Schnapp), who awakened his powers in the first volume, tells his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) that they do not stand a chance against Vecna, the latter says, “It’s not over, not by a long shot.”

Another key moment that has fans worrying on social media is Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) telling Dustin, “You die, I die” and the latter reciprocating the same. “No please,” a fan commented. “Both of you don't die,” another wrote.

The trailer delivers thrilling scenes from the upcoming instalment, from a fight-to-the-death pact between Dustin and Steve to an electrocuted Demogorgon.

“We’ve always known that Will has a connection to Vecna and the Upside Down,” Ross Duffer, co-creator of Stranger Things, told Netflix. “In Season 2, we started to delve into it, but one of the earliest ideas in the new season is, ‘What if Will were able to harness this connection and use it against our villains?’ We also felt it very natural to re-center the story on Will.”

According to Matarazzo, Will’s powers will “change the game” for the Hawkins teens. “I think that puts us on more of [an even] playing field. I’m sure that’s objectively terrifying to Vecna.”

In the trailer’s final moments, Vecna creeps closer as he declares that it’s time for a “new world.”

Episodes 5 to 7 of Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 2 will premiere on 26 December in India. The finale will drop on New Year.