‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: Netflix Release Date & What We Know So Far

Are the Byers and Eleven going to return to Hawkins?

After the tearful goodbye to their friends and Hawkins, the Byers and Eleven have moved away to pastures new. Before leaving Mike and Eleven have made it clear they’ll be talking to and visiting as often as they can. Mike will go to the Byers place for Thanksgiving, and Eleven will ask Joyce if she can stay at Mike’s for Christmas.

It’s our hope the next season will be based at Christmas, which would give writers an easy reason to write characters to be in Hawkins at the same time. Regardless, characters such as Eleven and Will are critical to the story thanks to their connection to the Upside Down.

Jonathan’s return to Hawkins would coincide with his relationship with Nancy Wheeler. As for Joyce, she’d likely tag along just to make sure Will and Eleven are safe.

How will the Mindflayer return?

If anyone thought the Mindflayer was destroyed is sadly mistaken. The creature seen throughout the third season was a conduit used by the Mindflayer and not the Mindflayer itself.  With the connection between the Upside Down and our world shut, the conduit body lost its “signal” to the Midnlfayer thus the body was destroyed.

The Mindflayer is safe and sound in the Upside Down but is trapped for now. He’ll definitely be returning with a vengeance and will likely look to enact his revenge on the town of Hawkins after being thwarted twice.

As to how he returns will be very interesting. The past two occasions when he’s possessed humans has not gone to plan. Arguably possessing one of the Russians would be a far better option than a teenager from Hawkins.

Have the Russians tamed a Demogorgon?

The big reveal at the end of the fourth season was shown to be a Demogorgon had been captured by the Russians. At first, it looked the Russians had found a Demodog until it stood on its hind legs revealing the true form of the creature.

The Russians plan to tear open a portal to the Upside Down in Kamchatka must have been a success. While the facility in Hawkins was shut down, the Kamchatkan base is still fully functional. Given time to perfect the research, the machine may now give the Russians access to Upside Down as and when they please.

How they came to capture a Demogorgon is unclear but perhaps they were able to find one of the spawns similar to Dustin’s pet D’Artagan in season 2. This would give pause to reason that the Demodogs are in fact the juvenile or puppy stage of the Demogorgon.

Dustin’s connection to D’Artagan also gives us reason to believe that creatures from the Upside Down can form bonds, however small. So if the Russians raised this particular Demogorgon from birth/spawn, then maybe they were able to tame the monster. Or of least the Demogorgon likes to be fed on a regular basis and the Russians can study the creature. Also, the Demogorgon has the ability to go in and out of the Upside Down, which leads us to wonder why it willingly would stay in a cage.

More experiments to appear?

In the second season, we learned that Eleven wasn’t the only experiment to escape the Department of Energy. Eight was also able to escape and she made it her mission to take down the people related to the experiments. Like Eleven, Eight also exhibited powers of her own. Instead of telekinetic abilities like Eleven’s, Eight could cast illusions, become invisible through her illusions and also clairvoyance.

We didn’t see any further experiments in season 3 but director and executive producer Shawn Levy heavily hinted we could see more in the future:

“I think we’ve clearly implied there are other numbers, and I can’t imagine that the world will only ever know Eleven and Eight”

Several cast members and crew members have been speaking about season 4 so here’s a roundup on what they’ve been saying.

Hiro Koda (who we recently got an interview with) who serves as the stunt co-ordinator for Stranger Things said the following:

“It’s going to be epic. There’s lots of great surprises and all your favorite people are in it, It’s going to be so good. It’s so epic. I’ve gotten to read through almost eight scripts now, it’s pretty awesome. I don’t know how many we’re going to get.”

David Harbour has teased what’s in store for Hopper for season 4 saying:

“I know specifically that in Season 4 we will give you a big, huge reveal about Hopper’s backstory”

There’s also been a good few other leaks about season 4 which include:

• Three more teens supposedly joining the main cast
• Starcourt Mall will return
• Dr. Brenner has been rumored to still be alive.
• A new house (likely where Will and family moves to) will feature in the new season.

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Who can we expect to see return for the fourth season of Stranger Things?

The biggest casting question going into season four was whether David Harbour would be returning.

Thanks to a tweet from Netflix in February 2020, we now have confirmation that David Harbour will be returning to role of Jim Hopper in season four.

A welcome gift on Valentine’s Day? Stranger Things have happened. pic.twitter.com/6bUFvnyrjY

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) February 14, 2020

Thanks to the first teaser trailer, we know that Tom Wlaschiha will be featured in season four. His exact role and to what extent he’ll be featured has yet to be learned.

ICYMI – Tom Wlaschiha who was in Game of Thrones will be appearing in #StrangerThings4. pic.twitter.com/qiRPjv0Rtu

— What’s on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) February 18, 2020

In late February 2020, Netflix confirmed that Priah Ferguson had been upped to a series regular for the fourth season. She played the breakout role of Erica Sinclair in season 3.

There’s plenty of new roles coming to Stranger Things in the fourth season, we’re just waiting for confirmation on which actors will be cast in the new roles.

We also got word in April 2020 that Nikola Đuričko will be in season four:

Nikola Đuričko joins the cast of #StrangerThings4! pic.twitter.com/SAyozOmV3u

— StrangerThingsSpoilers (@SThingsSpoilers) April 6, 2020

In June 2020, most of the main cast was listed to be returning including the five main kids but one name notably missing a 2021 day is Dacre Montgomery who played Billy. His character died in season 3 so it’s not overly surprising.

Also in June 2020, some audition tapes surfaced online with actors trying to become so-called “members of the hellfire club”. This aren’t confirmed by Netflix themselves it’s worth noting.

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Other Stranger Things News

“Writer-producers Matt and Ross Duffer perform yet another masterful act of chemistry, mixing homages to a cavalcade of 1980s media to create a show that bubbles over with original fun and inclusiveness in its third season. Part science fiction, part horror, part government conspiracy drama, it fleet-footedly veers between modes and expectations, keeping viewers on their toes and the edge of their seats.”

Are you looking forward to the release of Stranger Things season four? Let us know down in the comments.