Over 140,000 fanatics demand Netflix to restore Stranger Things cut scenes

Stranger Things fans are pressuring Netflix to “restore” alleged cut scenes after Season 5, Volume 2, and the backlash is now being measured in petition signatures. As of Monday, December 29, 2025, a Change.org campaign titled “Restore the Unseen Footage of Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 2” shows 267,672 verified signatures, with the page listing Netflix Canada and the Duffer Brothers as decision makers and the status marked as “awaiting response.”

Viewers reading about “over 140,000” are usually seeing an early snapshot from the petition’s first surge, before the number climbed further in the following day. The petition argues that key character moments were removed late in the process and says it wants “unseen footage,” with supporters claiming what aired does not match what they felt was suggested in promos and interviews.

Why “over 140,000 fans” are demanding Netflix restore Stranger Things cut scenes, and where the number comes from

The spark for the headline is straightforward. A Change.org petition launched on December 28, 2025, and it immediately framed itself as a direct demand to the people it believes can act, listing Netflix Canada and the Duffer Brothers as decision makers and showing “awaiting response.”

The “over 140,000” figure is best understood as a timestamp, not a ceiling. Early coverage cited the petition crossing six figures fast, and the count kept moving as more viewers finished Volume 2 and looked for a place to register frustration.

Who are the “fanatics” in practical terms? They are petition signers and highly organized fandom clusters that coordinate across comment sections, short-form videos, and hashtag pushes, then funnel that energy into a single public number. Change.org’s own interface reinforces the organizing logic by highlighting daily momentum and positioning the petition as a pressure campaign that can be “delivered” to decision makers.

The petition’s core claim is that meaningful material exists and was removed. As per the Change.org petition text dated December 28, 2025, organizer Wenni J wrote,

“We want the unseen footage of stranger things. I believe it was more to the episodes and we didn’t see them either due to Netflix or the team of stranger things cutting them. This has been a long 10 years process and this is what we get. "

Further adding,

"They must have cut out a lot of scenes from volume 2 and from our loved characters. I believe we as fans should stand up and take the initiative to get the footage and make the decision. We should sign this petition, trend hashtag, and make videos together to get Netflix and the duffer brothers to notice us. WE WANT ANSWERS!!.”

Supporters interpret that as more than a deleted-scenes reel. In the petition details, the campaign suggests missing character beats and missing connective tissue that would make certain emotional turns feel earned, rather than abrupt.

The comment section shows what signers think they are paying for emotionally, even if they did not pay financially. One featured supporter wrote,

“The fans deserve a decent ending to a series we've loved for so many years. Release the footage. I've loved this show ever since I was 10 years old”

While another argued the ending should reflect,

“It's genuinely disappointing to see how this final season is turning out.....Now it just feels soulless and we deserve to see how this story was truly supposed to end, with all of our beloved characters.”

These comments also explain why the campaign is sticking. The demand is not only for extra minutes on screen. It is also for reassurance that Stranger Things is finishing the way the creators intended, and that any last-minute trimming did not remove essential answers.

What scenes supporters say were cut from Season 5, Volume 2, and what evidence they are using

Most of the anger is not built around one single missed shot. It is built around a bundle of fan theories that treat pacing as proof. Supporters argue that Volume 2 feels like it jumps past emotional bridges, then lands on big beats without the quieter scenes they expected in between.

In posts circulating alongside the petition, fans point to a shared document that lists alleged omissions and tries to match them to trailers, behind-the-scenes images, and continuity details.

The most repeated claims fall into a few lanes. Fans believe at least one longer character-to-character conversation was shortened, that at least one Will-focused sequence was reduced, and that certain reunion beats were compressed in a way that changes the emotional math of the scenes. These are not production-confirmed facts. They are inferences built from promo fragments, on-set photos, and what viewers expected based on how earlier seasons paced their big reveals.

What can be verified is the basic shape of how Netflix has presented the final run. Volume releases and runtimes are public, and they set the conditions for viewers to debate what “fits” inside each chapter. Stranger Things Season 5 was rolled out in volumes, and reporting around the release also highlighted the lengths of the late-season episodes, which fans often cite when arguing the show had room for more character material.

Has Netflix responded to the Change.org petition? What the creators have said about edits before, and when the Stranger Things finale streams

Right now, the most important update is also the least satisfying for petition supporters. The Change.org page still shows the campaign as “awaiting response” from the listed decision makers, and Netflix has not announced a restored cut or an official release of Volume 2 deleted scenes tied to the petition. That silence is a big reason the conversation keeps expanding, because fans fill the vacuum with their own “proof” threads and timelines.

At the same time, the creators have talked publicly in the past about what they do and do not change after release, and that context cuts against the idea of a sudden story rewrite done in secret. As per an ABC News report dated July 28, 2022, creator Ross Duffer said,

“I think what we're going to do is we'll go and George Lucas it,”

While discussing continuity tweaks rather than story overhauls. In the same report, Matt Duffer drew a line between narrative changes and technical fixes, saying,

“It's not, like, story, but you're essentially patching in shots. Netflix is — I don't think they've ever allowed people to patch on opening week and even weekend. And we said, 'Well, why not?'.”

That history is why many viewers see the current petition as a demand for transparency, not only extra footage. Where the series stands heading into the end is also clear.

Stranger Things began with Will Byers’ disappearance and expanded into a long war with the Upside Down, the Mind Flayer’s control, and Vecna’s emergence, ending Season 4 with rifts tearing Hawkins open. The finale is scheduled as a single feature-length final episode. Netflix has set Volume 3, titled The Rightside Up, to stream on December 31, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stay tuned for more updates.