While we wait with bated breath for Netflix to release news about an eventual Stranger
Things season four, we've collected the information we already do have, along with a few interesting
theories, as a way to help make the uncertainty a little more manageable.
The announcement for Stranger Things' fourth season came in the form of a short video teaser,
which displays the words "Stranger Things 4" in the show's glowing red title font, as
its eerie synthesized theme music swells.
That is, before the dark vines of the Upside Down rise to ominously choke out the red light
of the words.
The teaser finishes with a card announcing, "We're not in Hawkins anymore," which could
either refer to the Upside Down, or to the expanded geography of the show.
After all, the Byers family did move away from the Indiana town at the end of season
3, which also teased a new, Soviet Union-based subplot.
In the season 3 finale, police chief Jim Hopper finds himself dangerously close to the machine
the Soviet scientists constructed to open a gate to the Upside Down, right as Joyce
Byers prepares to destroy it.
Both Hopper and Joyce realize what she has to do, and seconds later, the machine explodes,
killing the nearby Russian scientists and presumably Hopper as well.
But we never see Hopper's body, either during or after the explosion.
When Joyce goes to look at what's left of the machine, there's no trace of him.
Perhaps he jumped through the gate at the last second and is now trapped in the Upside
Down.
Or maybe he emerged somewhere else.
In a season 3 finale post-credits scene, we get a glimpse of a facility in Russia and
a closed door sealing off a character referred to only as "the American."
There are a number of candidates for who the American is, but in an interview with SlashFilm,
David Harbour, who plays Sheriff Hopper, indicated that he does, in fact, believe his character
is alive, all the way off in the USSR.
While Hopper is probably the strongest contender, other theories have proposed that it could
actually be Dr. Brenner, Billy Hargrove, Murray Bauman, or even a character we haven't yet
met.
Whoever it is, we'll find out for sure in season 4.
Series co-creator Ross Duffer told Entertainment Weekly that the identity of the American,
along with the truth of what the Russians are doing with the demogorgon, will play a,
quote, "huge role" in season 4.
The same end-credits scene that teases the American also introduces a fascinating and
terrifying new development to the world of Stranger Things: the Soviets have a demogorgon.
In the scene, Russian guards toss a terrified prisoner into a large metal cage before turning
a crank that releases the beast from its pen, indicating that they've been keeping at least
one of the creatures in captivity.
This may explain why the Soviets were working to open gates to the Upside Down in the first
place.
Perhaps they've been collecting demogorgons, although for what purpose we can't be sure.
The fact that they're feeding them humans, however, suggests that their motivations are
far from benevolent.
With the first season of Stranger Things taking place in the winter of 1983, the second in
the fall of 1984, and the third in the summer of 1985, some fans are speculating that the
fourth season will be set in the spring of 1986.
If it is, there's a possibility that the fourth season will somehow tie into the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster, which occurred on April 26, 1986.
The Soviet presence in season 3 lends weight to the theory that we might be spending more
time in the USSR in season 4.
While incorporating a deadly real-life disaster into a series about alternate dimensions and
monsters feels like precarious ground, there's one disturbing theory that takes the Chernobyl
speculation a step further, proposing that it may actually be Eleven who causes the disaster.
Either she'll get her powers back and somehow cause the nuclear reaction herself, or her
battle with the creatures from the Upside Down will have catastrophic repercussions,
which will then be swept under the rug with a story about a nuclear accident.
"Mysterious deaths, government cover ups, a bizarre chemical leak.
Is it all linked?
All a vast conspiracy?"
Although Dr. Brenner appeared to have died at the end of season 1, season 2 revealed
that he survived the bloody finale and is still out there, somewhere.
"I can help.
I can help you find him."
However, Brenner was nowhere to be found in season 3, leading fans to wonder what's become
of him.
Since Eleven ended season 3 without her powers, some fans speculate that Dr. Brenner will
be the one to help her get her abilities back.
"Shhh, you're sick.
You're sick, but I'm going to make you better.
I'm going to take you back home, where I can make you well again."
After all, he's the person who guided her through developing and honing them in the
first place, so it makes a twisted sort of sense that he might be the key to her regaining
them.
After being possessed by the Mind Flayer for most of season 3, Billy was finally able to
resist the creature's mind control long enough to protect Eleven from being flayed.
Unfortunately, he was no match for the giant, multi-armed monster, and was impaled multiple
times before dying in his stepsister Max's arms.
However, one theory suggests that Billy may have survived after all, and may yet return
in season 4.
Not only did Billy manage to hold on to his own body, unlike most of the Mind Flayer's
victims who melted before merging into a single monster, but we don't see what becomes of
him after Max goes to his side at the mall.
It's possible that someone could have arrived to save his life just in the nick of time.
If Billy is alive, he could be the mysterious American in Russia.
While this seems like a long shot, it makes sense that Russians would take an interest
in Billy, since their research would surely benefit from studying one of the few people
who has been taken over by the Mind Flayer and maybe lived to tell the tale.
The 1985 film Back to the Future was a major pop culture touchstone for season 3, playing
in the movie theater that the Stranger Things kids frequent and even providing amusing conversation
fodder for a drugged-with-truth-serum Steve Harrington and Robin.
"What's happening?"
"I have no idea."
But perhaps the appearance of a movie about a time-traveling teenager was about more than
providing a nostalgic Easter egg for the audience, and was actually hinting at future storylines.
In a show that has already normalized concepts like alternate dimensions, monsters, possession,
and telekinesis, time travel doesn't feel entirely outside of the realm of possibility
for season 4.
It could make a lot of sense, given that time travel was part of the original concept for
the show.
"The future.
That's where you're going."
And we still understand very little about the properties of the Upside Down, or the
extent of Eleven's powers.
It wouldn't be totally unreasonable to discover that characters may be able to move back and
forth through time, possibly even changing some of the darker events of the past.
This opens up a world of possibilities for the show.
Maybe we could witness the return of Barb or Bob Newby.
And, if Hopper and Billy really are dead, time travel may be the perfect solution to
go back and see them again.
While official casting information hasn't yet been released, it's a safe bet to assume
that all of the surviving main characters will be coming back for season 4.
The Byers family may have moved, but considering they took Eleven, a central character and
the only one with superpowers, with them, it seems unlikely that they wouldn't return.
In fact, the Byers' move could be a way to open the storytelling possibilities for the
series.
Matt Duffer told Entertainment Weekly:
"I think the biggest thing that’s going to happen is it’s going to open up a little
bit...in terms of allowing plotlines into areas outside of Hawkins.”
Although the Duffers didn't get into detail regarding which outside areas they meant,
we can take a couple of educated guesses based on season 3.
The first is obviously the Soviet Union, where the third season both began and ended.
Perhaps whatever strange things happen in the fourth season will take the Hawkins crew
on an adventure abroad.
Another strong possibility is the as-yet undisclosed town that the Byers crew now calls home.
Although Joyce talked a lot in season 3 about her family's need for a fresh start, the location
of their home was conspicuously omitted from any of the dialogue, leaving every possibility
open.
Wherever season 4 takes us, Ross Duffer says we should expect it to feel, very different
from what's come before.
He told Entertainment Weekly:
"But I think that's the right thing to do and I think it'll be exciting."
Before the Byers family and Eleven move away, Mike and Eleven confirm their plans to see
each other again.
Mike says he's received the okay from his parents to go stay with the Byers' over Thanksgiving
and suggests that perhaps Will and Eleven might return to Hawkins for Christmas.
"Did you talk to your mom?
About Thanksgiving?"
"Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got the okay.
I'll be there."
While either one of these suggestions could hint at the timeframe for season 4, Thanksgiving
seems the more likely option, since each season has centered around a holiday, and the show
already did Christmas in season 1.
If Mike's Thanksgiving trip to the Byers' new home is indeed the catalyst for season
4, we can probably expect the season to drop around November 2020.
That would allow 16 months between the release dates of seasons three and four, which seems
about right given the amount of time between the existing seasons.
15 months between the releases of seasons one and two, and 21 months between two and
three.
Although news of an official renewal didn't come until a few months after season 3, that
didn't stop the Duffer brothers and executive producer Shawn Levy from looking ahead.
While everyone involved in the production of the show seemed to be on the same page
as far as taking the story beyond season 3, just how far they plan on going seems to still
be a little up in the air.
In an interview with Collider ahead of season 3, Levy said:
"Season Four is definitely happening.
There’s very much the possibility of a season beyond that one, that’s currently undecided."
Meanwhile, the Duffers have said that while they see the show lasting at least four seasons,
they don't want to go on for too long.
Ross Duffer told Entertainment Weekly:
"Like we’re going to stretch credibility.
It wasn’t intended to be a seven-season thing."
That would indicate that the lifespan of Stranger Things is somewhere between four and six seasons,
with something on the lower side feeling the most likely.
But whether season 4 proves to be its last, or it continues on for another season or two
past that, it sounds as though the Duffers are intent on ending the show on its own terms,
rather than allowing it to overstay its welcome.
Nearly a year before season 3 appeared on Netflix, rumors started circulating that the
third season of Stranger Things would be the last for the Duffer brothers as showrunners.
While it was thought that the creative duo might still stay on with the show in some
capacity, their input into its overall direction would be greatly reduced.
This came as a blow to fans of the show, since the Duffers were the ones who created the
world of Stranger Things in the first place.
Losing the Duffers at this point would've robbed the audience of the opportunity to
see the conclusion the original creators had envisioned.
However, Netflix quashed that rumor as definitively as the time Hopper stomped on a skittering
piece of Mind Flayer at the Starcourt Mall.
The streaming service tweeted in February 2018:
"Don't drop your Eggos.
Rumors that the Duffer Bros are leaving Stranger Things after season 3 are false."
Rest assured, whenever Stranger Things does eventually draw to a close, it will be with
the Duffers at the helm.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite shows are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.