By Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 2.
If you've already binged Stranger Things 2 and are already itching to find out what happens to Eleven and our other Hawkins faves next, we have good and bad news. The good: Season 3 is already in the works. The bad: It most likely won't be released until 2019, so you'll have to wait at least another year to get your fresh Stranger Things fix. Here's everything we know about season 3 so far.
1. The new season won't be released for a while.
Matt Duffer, one of the show's co-creators, told E! in late October that he and the other writers had only just started working on the new season. That means that nothing is set in stone yet plot-wise, but all signs point to a late 2018 release at the earliest; the Duffer brothers told Deadline that it was difficult for them to wrap a season in a year. Early 2019 is even more likely, given Stranger Things 2 arrived 15 months after the first season debuted.
"I remember we just had a meeting with Netflix and we were just doing the math of how long it took to make Season 1 and how long it would take to get Season 2 out," Ross Duffer said. "Obviously we all wanted it as fast as possible, but we were unable to get it within a year." That means another Halloween release might be pushing it...but you'll still be able to dress as Badass Eleven next year.
2. The series might end after four seasons.
Although the Duffers have previously expressed that they wanted to end the show after four seasons ("We're thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out," Ross told Vulture back in August), they have since walked back on their comments, saying that four seasons might be too short.
"We don't actually know," Ross told E! at the season 2 premiere. "I think, you know, four to five seasons is likely where we'll end up, but who knows? I mean, none of this is official, and we know where we want to go. We're trying to figure out still how long it'll take to get there, so we'll see."
3. There will be another time jump.
Stranger Things 2 saw the action move on almost a full year from the first season. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Duffer compared writing Stranger Things to the filming of the Harry Potter series, explaining that the creators have to incorporate time jumps because the show's lead actors continue to age between seasons. Since season 2 wrapped when the kids were just finishing out eighth grade, that could mean season 3 could deal with their first year at Hawkins High School.
"Our kids are aging," Matt said. "We can only write and produce the show so fast. They're going to be almost a year older by the time we start shooting season three. It provides certain challenges. You can't start right after season two ended. It forces you to do a time jump. But what I like is that it makes you evolve the show. It forces the show to evolve and change, because the kids are changing."
4. Season 3 might not focus on Will.
After Will was drawn into the Upside Down in season 1 and used as a direct connection to the monsters in season 2, the Duffers think he deserves a rest in the new season: "Maybe now we're going to give him a break," Matt told THR.
Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, on the other hand, isn't too sure: "I personally think it's not all out of him.... There's this massive monster taking over all of Hawkins, and all you have to do is light a few fires and turn on a few heaters, and he's gone?" Schnapp told THR. "It just doesn't make sense to me, really. He's still there—I just don't know how."
5. The Mind Flayer will probably be back.
Just when we think things might finally go back to normal for the Hawkins kids, we see the Mind Flayer or the Shadow Monster looming ominously over the school in the season 2 finale. The Duffers revealed that they wanted to create a villain that could be sustained throughout multiple seasons.
"Yeah, we don't end it on a totally happy note, do we?" Ross told THR. "There were discussions about that, but then we went, 'Nah, we have to hint at what's to come.' The hope we wanted people to get out of it is that this thing [is still out there]. They've shut the door on the Mind Flayer, but not only is it still there in the Upside Down, it's very much aware of the kids, and particularly Eleven." This doesn't sound good for our favorite Eggo fan, frankly.
6. Erica, Lucas' little sister, will return.
Although she didn't get much screen time this time around, Lucas' little sister Erica, played by newcomer Priah Ferguson, quickly became a fan favorite. In an interview with Yahoo, the Duffers revealed that Ferguson will be back to tease Lucas and the other Hawkins kids.
"There will definitely be more Erica in season 3," Matt said. "That is the fun thing about the show—you discover stuff as you’re filming. We were able to integrate more of her in, but not as much you want because the story [was] already going. ‘We got to use more Erica,’ that was one of the first things we said in the writers’ room.”
7. There might be some justice for Bob.
Fans are still reeling after Joyce's lovable new beau Bob Newby, played by Sean Astin, met an untimely demise at the end of season 2. Although the Duffers confirmed that Bob had to be killed off, Matt Duffer has said he isn't entirely opposed to revisiting the character.
“I have some Bob ideas, but I don’t know what to do with him," Matt told Entertainment Weekly. "I will say I would love to revisit the character…in some way, but I don’t know how to even do that.”
8. We may never fully understand the Upside Down.
The Duffers have said that their favorite thing is watching the Hawkins kids figure out the Upside Down universe through their Dragon's Lair game. Despite this, and although the Duffers have already fully fleshed out the Upside Down for their own purposes, the audience might not ever get to know everything there is to know about Hawkins' monster-filled underworld.
"We're telling this story from the point of view of very human characters," Ross told THR. "There's no way they can ever truly fully understand this place. We have our Upside Down document which describes its rules and its mythology in quite a bit of detail, but I think we're just going to slowly parse that out, and maybe not even fully use all of it."
9. Dr. Brenner, a.k.a. "Papa," is alive.
In episode seven, “The Lost Sister,” Eleven meets another one of Dr. Brenner's test subjects, Kali (a.k.a. Eight). Together, they track down a former Hawkins scientist and attempt to enact revenge, but in a twist, the scientist reveals that Dr. Brenner, season 1's antagonist, is still alive and promises to give them his location in exchange for sparing his life.
In an interview with IGN, Matt Duffer has already hinted that we haven't seen the last of Dr. Brenner: "I would say that if we were going to kill Brenner…as an audience member watching the show, if that was his death, that would be very unsatisfying to me—when the monster jumps on him and we cut away," Matt said. "He would deserve much more than that as an ending. So yes, there’s a possibility of seeing him again."
One of the show's producers then officially confirmed that Brenner's alive. In an interview with Collider, Shawn Levy said: "Whether or not people feel that episode was entirely successful, the Duffers want to take some swings, and they know that they’re not gonna please everybody. But that feeling of the world getting a bit bigger, especially coupled with the fact that it now seems clear that Brenner is alive."
10. We could see more of Eleven's lab mates.
Although fan reactions to episode seven, "The Lost Sister," were mixed, the Duffers have referred to the episode as a "whole little other pilot episode" in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Kali and her band of misfit punks could be back in season 3, or will we meet even more of Eleven's siblings (One through Seven, Nine, and Ten) in the upcoming season?
“It’s important for Ross and I to try stuff and not feel like we’re doing the same thing over and over again," Matt said. "It’s almost like doing a whole little other pilot episode in the middle of your season, which is kind of a crazy thing to do. But it was really fun to write and cast and work on.”
11. We'll learn more about Billy.
Season 2's most hateable addition turned out not to be the Demodogs, but Billy, a teenager who terrorized his step-sister Max and the other Hawkins kids. Dacre Montgomery, who plays Billy, revealed that we might learn more about his character in season 3.
"I can't speak for anybody else, [but] because of this big cliffhanger for Billy, there were a lot of discussions about a continuation and a past," Montgomery teased in an interview with PopSugar. "Like, where he's come from came later in the game, and then, where he's going became a discussion near the end of filming, for sure."
12. The Stranger Things crew will be in relationships.
[asset removed due to syndication rights]When season 2 of Stranger Things ended, Mike and Eleven made clear their feelings for on another and Max and Lucas had their first kiss. During a recent PaleyFest conference, executive producer Shawn Levy revealed that this upcoming season will explore the relationships blossoming in Hawkins.
"Mike and Eleven and are going strong, so that's a relationship that continues, and same with Mad Max and Lucas," Levy told attendees. "But again, they're like 13- or 14-year-old kids, so what does romance mean at that stage of life? It can never be simple and stable relationships and there's fun to that instability."
Meanwhile, Nancy and Jonathan will still be together, according to actress Natalia Dyer. But it's not going to be smooth sailing: “It’ll be really interesting to see what happens,” she said. “There’s a little push-pull, there’s some tension there. I feel like they probably fight a lot. I don’t know where they’re going to be because it’ll be sometime later since we’ve seen them, so who knows what’s happened after where we left them.”
13. "Dad Steve" will be back.
In season 2, Steve (played by Joe Keery) took on more of a fatherly role and helped the Hawkins kids fight off D'Artagnan and his phalanx of demogorgons while the adults attempted to shut down the Upside Down. Levy insisted Dad Steve will make a return for the new season and admitted that they "stumbled onto a gold mine with Dad Steve."
14. Season 3 is inspired by the 1985 film Back to the Future.
Levy didn't divulge any further details about using Back to the Future as a reference but given that Stranger Things is set in the 1980s, it'll be interesting to see how the showrunners draw from the beloved pop culture classic.
15. Maya Hawke, Cary Elwes, Jake Busey, and Francesca Reale have been cast.
Joining the cast for season 3 will be Maya Hawke—daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. “She beat out a lot of actresses for that part,” Levy said. But he was quick to point out her acting heritage didn’t help her win the part. “It was the audition. That’s how everyone in this show got their parts. We knew of David Harbour’s prior work, we knew of Sean Astin’s prior work, but the bottom line is people get parts in Stranger Things by kicking ass in the audition.”
The details of Hawke's role have yet to be revealed, but she does pop up alongside Steve in this new preview posted to the Stranger Things Twitter account on July 16.
The preview teases Hawkins, Indiana's newest attraction—the brand new Starcourt Mall, which boasts stores like Claire's, Walden Books, and Scoops Ahoy (an ice cream shop where Steve and Maya Hawke's character work) in mock-commercial style.
Also joining the cast will be Cary Elwes and Jake Busey. Elwes will play the role of Mayor Kline, Variety reports. He's a "slick and sleazy...classic 80s politician," while Busey's character is a local journalist named Bruce, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Elwes previously starred in The Princess Bride (1987), and Busey recently appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
In May, it was announced that in addition to Hawke, Elwes, and Busey, the show has cast Francesca Reale to play a key character in season 3. Reale will play a local lifeguard named Heather, who becomes, like most things in Hawkins, part of a town mystery, Deadline reports. She previously appeared on the Netflix original show Haters Back Off!
