Well, it’s official — not that it’s a shock. Stranger Things season 4, announced back in 2019, will not premiere until 2022, Netflix said Friday. This is not unexpected; when the last teaser trailer appeared, in May, the show was said to still be in production.
[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for the end of Stranger Things, season 3.]
There’s not much new in this teaser, which recycles the threatening “Eleven, are you listening?” closeup from May’s minute-long trailer. Previous teasers hinted at the world growing beyond Hawkins, Indiana, and confirmed one big theory regarding Officer Jim Hopper (David Harbour).
Stranger Things was officially renewed for a fourth season at the end of September 2019. Shooting on the season reportedly began at the beginning of 2020, but that work was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in October, and a month later Netflix announced eight new characters — one of them played by Robert Englund. (The Visitors’ Willie, from V: The Final Battle. OK, fine, he also played Freddy Kreuger.)
The third season of Stranger Things launched in July 2019, and ended with Hopper sacrificing himself by walking into the Upside Down. But a post-credit tease set in Soviet Russia hinted that he was still alive, just in enemy hands. The first footage of the upcoming season — released all the way back in February 2020 — confirmed that he survived, though he’s probably not in particularly good condition.
