- Here's why that new Stranger Things detail
about the X-Men means way more than you think!
This week marked the anniversary of Stranger Things Day,
and while we didn't get a surprise drop
of the fourth installment
of the hit Netflix streaming series,
it did mean that we got a lot of fun messages from the cast
as well as a ton of blooper reels
and behind the scenes moments.
However, mixed in with all the celebration
was a tweet from the official Twitter
of the writers of Stranger Things
that may've tipped the shows hand
as to where the fourth and reportedly final season may head.
In the tweet we see the cover page
of the script for the first episode of Stranger Things 4,
titled Chapter One: The Hellfire Club.
Along with the caption,
"looking for new members...are you in?"
Now, besides the obvious answer of hell yeah,
of course we're in, we gotta say this is a far cry
from the days when we get all the titles
for the upcoming season's episodes in one fell swoop.
In fact, the folks behind Rick and Morty
took a shot at this tactic
by posting their own spoof of Stranger Things title reveals.
Now, maybe the writers learned
that releasing that much info at once
was giving fans too much of a good thing,
too many clues as to where the season might be heading,
and with just one title this time around,
well there's no way anyone can really figure out
all that much about the plight of Eleven, the Byers,
and the rest of the gang.
We'd have to be complete crackpots wearing tinfoil hats
to think that we could unravel the entire season
based on a single episode name, right?
Wrong!
Buckle up, folks, cause we're goin' on one hell of a ride.
(car horn)
Now forgive our mixed metaphors here,
but comic book fans of the X-Men
might already have their spider senses tingling,
or their Cerebro hats-a-jingling.
I don't know, who cares?
The X-Men continuity is completely (beep).
And we slash they know that this title
is not a reference to any IRL Hellfire Clubs
'cause, look, those were just weird sex clubs
for horny dudes in 18th century Great Britain.
Pip pip!
Now while we know
this season's gonna move beyond Hawkins, Indiana,
we don't think they're gonna go there.
You know what I'm talkin' about, vicar.
No no, this is most definitely a reference
to the fictional Hellfire Club from X-Men comics,
and more than likely ties into the epic 1980s storyline,
The Dark Phoenix Saga,
and no, not the most recent X-Men movie
that hit theaters earlier this year,
so please, everyone calm down.
God, that movie was legally a motion picture.
(Dan sighs)
The Dark Phoenix Saga, written Chris Claremont
and drawn by John Byrne,
featured the mysterious Hellfire Club
as its central villains.
In that particular story, they tried to manipulate Jean Grey
into thinking that she was in
some sort've weird 18th century goth romance,
you know, because comics,
and in the process ended up unleashing the Dark Phoenix,
thereby almost destroying the entire universe
in the process,
again, because comics.
So if a young woman
trying to keep her powerful mental abilities in check
while they're being manipulated by powerful dudes
with ulterior motives before they destroy
all that she cares about
sounds familiar to Stranger Things fans,
well, then good, you've been paying attention.
I mean heck, this isn't even the first reference
to the Hellfire Club in Stranger Things.
If you remember way back in the first episode in 2016,
Will Byers and Justin race their bikes
with the prize being the ownership
of Uncanny X-Men Issue number 134,
titled Heroes and Hellfire,
one of the issues smack dab in the middle
of The Dark Phoenix Saga.
So what does this all mean for the new season?
Well, Jean Grey's character's
certainly been an influence on the show from the start,
but naming the first episode of Stranger Things 4
"The Hellfire Club" means that things are probably
gonna take a turn for the worst.
Now if we refer back to the comics,
the person leading Jean Grey's mental manipulation
in the Hellfire Club
was Mastermind, a telepathic illusionist,
but in the Stranger Things world,
there's actually someone with a similar power set.
Kelly, AKA Eight, from season 2.
While we doubt that she would user her powers to harm Eleven
or manipulate her for the worse,
Collie, or perhaps a certain someone else
from their shared past could be manipulating one
or both to try and take control of Eleven.
I'm talking about the evil father figure, Dr. Brenner.
Even though he appeared to become Demogorgon food
in season one of the series, Collie created a vision of him
to torment Eleven in season two,
and many people think the American tease
at the end of season 3 wasn't Hopper,
but Dr. Brenner himself.
His return would spell very bad things for Eleven,
especially if he managed to somehow,
through his renewed experiments,
get her possessed by the Mind Flayer,
who would be the Phoenix Force in this particular metaphor.
It would basically be turning her evil,
mirroring what happened to Jean Grey
in the Dark Phoenix Saga.
And honestly, it's safe to say that he definitely does not
have Eleven's best interests at heart.
Of course, some are speculating that the Hellfire Club
might just be a fun nickname the gang gives themselves
for their group as they continue to mature
and try to maintain their friendships
despite the fact that the Byers are packing up
and leaving town at the end of last season.
Whatever the reason for the title is,
the implications are undeniably pretty dark,
considering the source material.
Now obviously, this is a lot to draw
from a single episode title,
but the evidence is there,
considering how much X-Men symbolism
has been in the show thus far.
With the rumored Stranger Things movies in the works,
along with word that Stranger Things 4
could be the last season of the show,
we expect to see the shit hit the fan in a major way,
but we'll just have to wait and see what happens
when the fourth season finally drops.
But what do you folks think?
What's the deeper meaning
of the Hellfire Club in Stranger Things?
Besides Dr. Brenner,
who else do you think could be coming back?
And are we going to deep into the X-Men mythology
to figure out things about a TV show?
Let's discuss!
(upbeat music plays)
Thank you so much for watching.
If you like what you saw,
why not give us a like and subscribe?
If you wanna get notified every time we go live
with a brand new video, feel free to mash that little bell
so you can be up to date on all the latest
theories, news, and rumors in the pop culture world.
(ambient music)