Hellfire Club assemble! While the coronavirus pandemic delayed the season 4 premiere of Stranger Things, the excitement is still real — and it’s all coming together!
“I think most would probably say it’s the scariest [season] out of the previous three, which I love because it’s very fun to film,” Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson, told Us Weekly exclusively in January 2021.
The hit Netflix series is set in 1980s in the fictional Hawkins, Indiana, and follows various supernatural events that affect the town. The show stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, David Harbour and more.
One of the biggest mysteries following the season 3 finale, which debuted in July 2019, was whether Jim Hopper (Harbour) was truly dead. Fans got a glimpse at the answer during the first teaser for season 4, which was released in February 2020 and showed Hopper in Russia after he seemingly vanished in a mysterious machine.
Matarazzo told Us that he wasn’t surprised to see Hopper’s story continue.
“I guess most of the cast had a pretty good idea that he might be making a return, but they weren’t too sure about it from the beginning,” the New Jersey native said in January 2021. “By the time we had gotten to the table read [and] we had all started reading together, it had been pretty clear. But it was great to have it confirmed when we saw David there.”
Series creators Matt and Ross Duffer offered a larger explanation about Hopper’s faith following the release of the sneak peek.
“We’re excited to officially confirm that production on Stranger Things 4 is now underway — and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper,” the Duffer brothers said in a statement at the time. “Although it’s not all good news for our ‘American’; he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human … and other.”
The duo continued to tease the surprising twists and turns viewers could expect from the fourth season.
“Meanwhile, back in the states, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long-buried, something that connects everything,” they added. “Season 4 is shaping up to be the biggest and most frightening season yet, and we cannot wait for everyone to see more. In the meantime, pray for the American.”
As for whether fans should prepare to say goodbye to the series, which originally premiered in 2016, it sounds like there is still more of the story left to tell.
“We know what the end is, and we know when it is,” Ross told The Hollywood Reporter in August 2020. “[The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story.”
Scroll down for everything to know so far about season 4 of Stranger Things:
The first look at season 4 was titled "From Russia With Love" and offered fans a glimpse at where Hopper ended up. The former Hawkins police chief, who returned with a shaved head, appeared to be stuck in a snow-filled Russia.
Harbour previously shared that there would be "a big, huge reveal about Hopper's backstory" during an appearance at 2019's Liverpool Comic Con, adding that season 4 was "definitely going to be a lot scarier than prior years."
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The Duffer brothers still see more seasons in the show's future, confirming in August 2020 that the fourth chapter “won’t be the end.”
Matt told The Hollywood Reporter at the time, “For the first time, we have all the scripts written and we’re able to look at it as a whole piece and make adjustments,” while Ross noted that the COVID-19 production pause gave them “a lot more time to work on the scripts.”
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In November 2020, Deadline revealed a handful of new actors who were joining the fourth season, including Robert Englund, who will play Victor Creel, a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s.
Jamie Campbell Bower was cast in the role of Peter Ballard, a caring man who works as an orderly at a psychiatric hospital.
Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) will find a new best friend in Argyle, played by Eduardo Franco. The character is described as “a fun-loving stoner who proudly delivers delicious pizza pies for Surfer Boy Pizza.”
Little is known about Hawkins High’s official D&D club leader, Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn, but the character may prove essential to solving the season’s mysteries.
Other new cast members include Sherman Augustus, Mason Dye and Nikola Djuricko.
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In February 2020, Netflix confirmed that Erica Sinclair, Lucas’ little sister, will be back in a bigger way. Priah Ferguson was upgraded to a series regular.
"Playing Erica Sinclair is an unbelievable experience. When I landed the role, I hadn’t seen many young Black girls represented in an international Sci-fi series," Ferguson wrote in a post via Netflix's Instagram in February 2021.
She added: "Erica was raised in an era where it wasn’t common for Black girls to use their voice. Especially in a fictional American town like Hawkins. Girls who looked like her were probably ignored and dismissed. ... I hope that Erica inspires young Black girls to stand up for what they believe in, to embrace their nerdy side and discover the beauty of their magic within!"
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In June 2021, Netflix announced even more new cast members who viewers will meet in the upcoming season, including Amybeth McNulty, Myles Truitt, Regina Ting Chen and Grace Van Dien.
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“I’m excited for people to see the season. We’ve been filming it right now for the past year and a half, two years because of COVID,” McLaughlin told Complex in July 2021. “I’m really excited for everyone to see the season. It’s definitely different from the last couple of seasons. Story lines are insane. It’s going to be really exciting to see what people think about this. While I’m talking about this, I’m thinking about what we’ve been filming and I’m just like, ‘Wow. No one knows what is to come.’ It’s insane.”
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Joe Keery and producer Shawn Levy teased what fans could look forward to as they start to wrap up filming for season 4.
"What [fans] can expect is a season that is wildly more epic than the first three," Levy told Entertainment Tonight in August 2021. "The reason it has taken a minute is, yes, COVID [19] — COVID protocols that keep us safe but have slowed us down — but also, it is by far the most ambitious, epic, globe-spanning plot we have ever done."
Keery, who had already finished filming his scenes for Steve Harrington, added that it will "be worth the wait."
Netflix released a teaser trailer that confirmed season 4 would air in 2022. The clip also showed Hopper seemingly back in Hawkins ready to defend himself with a flamethrower while Eleven is captured by two unknown men.
Courtesy Stranger Things/YouTube
Netflix premiered a nearly 2-minute-long teaser clip during TUDUM: A Netflix Global Fan Event in September 2021. In the footage, a family of four moves into a Victorian-era home as “Dream A Little Dream of Me” plays in the background. After some eery occurrences, the clip jumps ahead to the ‘80s where Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Caleb McLaughlin and Sadie Sink are looking for clues around the house.
"The world is full of obvious things, which nobody by any chance ever observes," Matarazzo’s Dustin Henderson explains in the clip, quoting Sherlock Holmes.
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