It has been more than two years since we took a trip to the upside-down, and that is far too long in my opinion. I’ve aged, you’ve aged, but most importantly, the kids in Hawkins have aged beyond the innocent tweens we once knew. This has brought me to the conclusion that we really need more Stranger Things, so when are we getting season 4?
The good news is that the next instalment of Netflix’s hit sci-fi show is not far away.
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When will Stranger Things season 4 be released?
While filming kicked off on Stranger Things 4 back in March 2020, COVID-19 has significantly delayed things.
A teaser trailer for the series revealed that Stranger Things season 4 will be hitting screens in 2022. Stranger Things Day (November 6) then gave us a further update on the season’s release date with a window of Summer 2022. That’s winter for us in the southern hemisphere.
Most recently the folks over at Netflix gave us the news we were waiting for. Stranger Things 4 finally has a release date, actually, it has two.
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1 will release on May 27, 2022 and the second part of season 4 will drop on July 1, 2022.
Some other good news that came from the announcement is that Stranger Things will be getting a fifth and final season, so this isn’t the end yet.
We’re not in Hawkins anymore
Let’s recap what happened the last time we saw our Stranger Things friends.
Following the dramatic events of Stranger Things season 3, not everyone is in Hawkins anymore.
Our fearless Chief Hopper (seemingly) sacrificed himself in the last episode to kill the Mind Flayer, which leads to Eleven being adopted by Joyce and moving out of Hawkins with Will and Jonathon.
The last scene of season 3 shows us a Russian facility, where the guards are discussing which prisoners to feed to a Demogorgon. Any of them – just not the American.
The American, you say? You would think one of the big mysteries of Stranger Things season 4 would be whether Hopper is alive or not. But Netflix isn’t pulling a Jon Snow on us and we already know that Hopper is alive thanks to the first season 4 teaser.
From Russia with love… pic.twitter.com/ZWEMgy63Et
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 14, 2020
Along with this teaser the Stranger Things creators, the Duffer Brothers, released a synopsis for season 4, saying:
“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. Meanwhile, back in the states, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long-buried, something that connects everything. 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”
Netflix also released a new synopsis for Stranger Things’ latest season which reads:
It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.
This new and horrifying supernatural threat comes in the form of Vecna – a villain that was shown off in the trailer.
David Harbour told Variety that Vecna is “a psychological horror that I don’t think we’ve really seen.”
“The Upside Down has been this wild west world where there are creatures running around, there’s violence, but we’ve never seen something as calculatedly psychologically evil as this. That’s exciting because he is a true big bad that we’ve needed in the series.”
Netflix also teased the release of the fourth season with four new posters that highlight the main locations of the new Stranger Things season.
The first is Russia where we see our friend Hopper is currently residing.
001. Russia. Getting the band back together. Bring a jacket. pic.twitter.com/NO4NHRLVDs
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 17, 2022
Next is the lab, the terrifying place where Eleven grew up.
002. The Lab. Every story starts somewhere. pic.twitter.com/trFwENrP4f
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 17, 2022
Then we have the mysterious Creel house, the creepy old home that was teased in one of Stranger Things 4’s trailers.
003. Creel House. Tick-tock. pic.twitter.com/mhRfFfQYXU
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 17, 2022
Lastly, we have California, the new home of Will, Jonathon, Joyce and Eleven in the upcoming season.
004. California. Hold onto your butts, brochachos. pic.twitter.com/2xRx3UMn1E
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 17, 2022
Then in the last image, everything comes together.
Every ending has a beginning. Vol. 1 is coming May 27. Vol. 2 is coming July 1. pic.twitter.com/nw8IYqQzil
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) February 17, 2022
And here’s one more poster just for the 80s vibes.
15 days pic.twitter.com/4rcBa5Yfkp
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) May 12, 2022
Stranger Things 4 Trailer
Another thing that came out of Stranger Things day was a teaser trailer for season 4. This is one of the best looks yet we’ve had at the new season and shows Will, Eleven, Joyce and Jonathon adapting to their new life in California.
Eleven has been writing letters to her far-away boyfriend Mike as she tries to survive a new school. This peace doesn’t last long as we’re shown a series of gunshots, helicopters and explosions which can’t be good for our squad.
Another teaser trailer came from Netflix TUDUM.
In it, we’re introduced to the creepy as hell Creel House; a home where we see strange and spooky things play out around the 1950s family who once lived in it. Fast forward to the ’80s and our favourite Hawkins kids are searching the space for clues.
spooky 😌 house 😌 https://t.co/xNU8uRIGhr
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 25, 2021
At the centre of it all sits the grandfather clock we spotted in an earlier teaser, and a whole lot of ominous music. Check it out below.
You can also find earlier teaser trailers for the new season of Stranger Things season 4 here.
Here’s our latest trailer for season 4 which gives some huge clues about what we’re going to see this season, including a mysterious new villain known as Vecna.
Check out our entire Stranger Things 4 trailer breakdown for all the hidden clues.
If you’d like a further tease, you can see the first clip from season 4 below.
The first clip from #StrangerThings4 has been released. pic.twitter.com/bHFsgQMYJr
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 14, 2022
Stranger Things 4 episode titles
As of November 2021, we also have the episode titles for all nine episodes dropping in Stranger Things 4. They are:
- The Hellfire Club
- Vecna’s Curse
- The Monster and the Superhero
- Dear Billy
- The Nina Project
- The Dive
- The Massacre At Hawking Lab
- Papa
- The Piggyback
The Duffer Brothers teased that Season 4’s nine scripts are over 800 cumulative pages and have almost twice the runtime of any previous season. They also confirmed each and every episode will be over an hour long. It’s been worth the wait then!
Stranger Things characters
Are there any new characters coming?
Stranger Things 4 is bringing on a lot of new cast members. After all, with Russia, Hawkins and California to cover, we’re bound to see some new faces.
Joining the cast so far are Robert Englund (Victor Creel), Eduardo Franco (Argyle), Jamie Campbell Bower (Peter Ballard), Sherman Augustus (Lt. Colonel Sullivan), Mason Dye (Jason Carver), Tom Wlashicha (Dmitri), Nikola Djuricko (Yuri), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Mason), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Miles Truitt (Patrick), Grace Van Dien (Chrissy) and Regina Ting Chen (Ms Kelly).
You can read all about their new characters in the thread below.
let's give our new cast members a big hawkins welcome. roll call 🗣 [thread]
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) November 20, 2020
These new Stranger Things characters will join our existing cast of favourites which includes Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, David Harbour, Sadie Sink, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke and Winona Ryder.
We also have a first look at our characters (both old and new) in the images Netflix has released below.
And on Day 65, we got our first look at ST4. (this is just a taste of the eggo. link in bio to https://t.co/sdbq7ANsMx for full extravaganza.) pic.twitter.com/XvNnd88vLL
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) March 23, 2022
it’s a full ST4 extravaganza, hot off the griddle. pic.twitter.com/5SuC8S9HR1
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) March 23, 2022
There are also new character posters to give you another peek at the faces you’ll be seeing in season 4.
— Netflix ANZ (@NetflixANZ) May 10, 2022
How to avoid Stranger Things season 4 spoilers
With Stranger Things 4’s release imminent you might want to avoid spoilers until you can watch the whole season.
If you don’t want any plot details spoiled for you on social media the best thing to do is mute keywords. Or stay off social media altogether.
You can also install special extensions in your browser that will help all those internet spoilers disappear from your search.
What are the reviews saying about Stranger Things 4?
That being said, if you’d like a little hint at how Stranger Things 4 is being received, here are some spoiler-free reactions from folks who saw the first episode at the premiere.
The first episode of #StrangerThings4 is 👍. It’s almost an hour and 15 minutes of set up and I loved it. Instead of rushing into the season the Duffer brothers take their time and do a lot of character building. Not what I expected and love when that happens. #StrangerThings pic.twitter.com/Ubj6XMCcKJ
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) May 15, 2022
#StrangerThings Season 4 premiere is big stakes, emotional, and scarier than ever. But more than anything, it's just so good to have these characters — and this show — back. Get hyped, because there's nothing else like this on TV.
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) May 15, 2022
Stranger Things soundtrack
One of the best things about Stranger Things is no doubt its soundtrack. Being set in the 80s, the Stranger Things soundtrack includes some absolute bangers like ‘Time After Time’ and ‘Material Girl’.
It also has a killer original score full of synth vibes and spooky tunes that makes for great background music.
Where can you catch up on Stranger Things?
I don’t know about you, but all this talk about Stranger Things 4 has given me a real craving to rewatch the entire show again. If you’d like to join me you can find all three seasons on Netflix in Australia.
There are 25 action-packed episodes available to watch which, by my calculations, you can binge in 21 hours and 52 minutes. A day in your life you won’t regret.
If you’re looking for other shows to watch while you wait for Stranger Things season 4, we’ve pulled together some suggestions.
This article has been updated since its original publish date.
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