By Warning: Potential spoilers ahead for season two of Stranger Things.
Stranger Things 2 is almost upon us, and after the season one finale, the Netflix juggernaut left us with several pressing questions: Is Eleven connected to the monster in some way? Will there ever be justice for Barb? And what's up with Will, who can't stop chucking up slugs after his return from the Upside Down? A trailer released last week confirmed the long-awaited return of Eleven and that the town of Hawkins will be soon facing off against a tentacled monster, or "the Shadow," right after the kids finished defeating the Demogorgon last season.
Co-creators Mike and Ross Duffer have read some of the fan theories online and told The Hollywood Reporter that while "some of the fan theories online are amazing," most of them are wrong—but "a few...are right or very close." Which ones? To prepare for the coming adventure, here are 9 of the wildest fan predictions and theories about Stranger Things 2.
1. Hopper's daughter was also experimented on by the government.
Detective Jim Hopper was a major player in season one; he led the search for Will along with Will's mom, Joyce. We also learned that Hopper had his own tragic backstory; Sara, his daughter, died from cancer, and he developed a drinking problem afterwards. Several fan theories point to the connection between Eleven and Hopper; for example, he seems to know she likes Eggo waffles despite never having been told so. So, some have speculated that Eleven might actually be Hopper's daughter, but another theory suggests that Sara might have been subjected to the same government experiments as Eleven, which eventually led to her terminal illness.
Whether any of this is true, we'll probably find out at least a little more about Sara: David Harbour, who plays Hopper, suggested as much in a Reddit AMA.
2. Eleven is the Demogorgon.
Eleven said herself that she is the terrifying monster in episode 6 ("The gate. I opened it. I'm the monster"). When she finally vanquishes the Demogorgon, she disappears—to the Upside Down, as we discovered in a teaser clip from the forthcoming season.
But what exactly is the nature of their connection? One Reddit user points out that the Demogorgon could be "a projection of Eleven's subconscious" given that she first encounters it in a "deep psychic state." Spooky!
3. Nancy Wheeler will end up with Jonathan Byers.
Sure, Nancy and Steve Harrington looked pretty cozy in the season one finale after Steve redeemed himself, but fans noticed the wistful look on Nancy's face after she gifted Jonathan a new camera for Christmas, to replace the one that Steve broke. This Redditor believes that Jonathan and Nancy will ultimately end up together, because the pair bonded after narrowly escaping the Demogorgon. But will love's course run that smooth? We'll have to wait and see.
4. The Dragon's Lair game is a foreshadowing device.
Fans have already noticed parallels between Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, theorizing that Will, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Eleven are all based on different character classes in the game. Take this example: When we first see Will playing the Dragon's Lair game, which is the Stranger Things version of D&D, he has to either "fireball" the Demogorgon or cast a "protective spell." And when he actually goes up against the monster in the Upside Down, he hides in the shed instead of fighting against it. In the season one finale, the kids do battle against a multi-headed creature in the game—which is interesting, because there's another very compelling theory (see #8 below) that this creature will make an appearance as their next foe. Plus, we know from the new trailer that there will definitely be a new monster terrorizing Hawkins. Looks like we should be paying more attention to the kids' leisure activities.
5. The Upside Down is Hawkins' future.
Although most of the fan theories seem to treat the Upside Down as a parallel universe, one Reddit user asked: "What if the Upside Down is not an alternative dimension but the future?" According to this theory, Eleven could have torn a hole through the space-time continuum with her psychic powers, allowing the future to flow into Hawkins and creating a time loop. But why does the Upside Down look so different from the kids' world? The theory suggests that the scary toxic atmosphere is a result of a nuclear holocaust, meaning that Will and Eleven ended up traveling to a post-apocalyptic future.
6. The Upside Down is in Eleven's head.
Another popular theory about the nature of the Upside Down looks at Eleven herself. Some fans think that after she was kidnapped from her family as a baby and subjected to experimental testing, the Demogorgon came to life as a byproduct of Eleven's trauma, and that the Upside Down is a reflection of Eleven's mental state. One Reddit user writes: "I believe that the monster was created from Eleven's accumulated childhood trauma...and it has since become its own separate and independent entity, even though they still seem to share a mental link."
This theory would explain why both Eleven and the Demogorgon disappeared in the finale—if the creature is a figment of her imagination, then if she destroys herself, she destroys it too. This Upside Down–Eleven link would also tie into the theory that it was Eleven who opened the link between the Upside Down and Hawkins.
7. Will is now part monster.
We already know that Will is central to the plot in season two. Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike, said during a Netflix panel, "Something happens to Will in the first couple of episodes that's very, very disturbing." Co-creator Matt Duffer confirmed that to Entertainment Weekly: "He seems to be seeing images from the Upside Down—the question is whether they're real or not... It seems like he's having some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder."
Towards the end of season one, we saw Will coughing up slugs after returning from the Upside Down, leading fans to speculate that he hasn't fully recovered and may now be part-monster himself. Another Reddit theory suggests that his slug-coughs mean Will might be a conduit for monsters into Hawkins: "With the lines set to blur between the real world and the Upside Down, he could be responsible for bringing more creatures than just the Demogorgon (or perhaps baby versions of that) into this world."
8. The season 2 monster is the Thessalhydra from Dungeons & Dragons.
In a trailer for season two, Will is seen sketching out a multi-limbed monster. Fans believe that the creature is the Thessalhydra from Dungeons & Dragons, a multi-headed creature that appears as the obstacle in the kids' Christmas Eve game in the season one finale. The monster is similar to the hydra from Greek mythology—when one of its heads is sliced off, another grows in its place. The Thessalhydra also reproduces by infecting people with larvae, which is exactly what happens to Will when he spits up a slug into his sink. So that all seems to check out quite nicely.
9. The pumpkin patch is a breeding ground for monsters.
Promotion photos show a rotting pumpkin patch and fans believe that it's not just a regular piece of land—instead, it could be a breeding ground for baby monsters, and could also have something to do with the eggs that Sheriff Hopper stumbled across in the Upside Down. Episode three of season one is called "The Pumpkin Patch," and should tell us more about who the eggs belong to and what the pumpkins actually mean.
