*WARNING: This article may contain spoilers*
Stranger Things fans were left picking up mountains of tissues following hours of weeping when Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour) seemingly died at the end of season three.
In the closing moments of the utter mayhem that went down in 'The Battle of Starcourt Mall' (think hungry human-absorbing monsters, dying siblings and a hell of a lot of blood) Joyce (Winona Ryder) finally agreed to go on a date with Hopper.
Well, that was until ‘Hop’ got caught up in a fight with ‘the Russians’ and his love interest was forced to close the gate to the Upside Down and ultimately kill the chief of police.
At least, that’s what we thought had happened.
Here’s everything you need to know about Stranger Things Season four:
What happened at the end of Stranger Things season four?
The end of season three was heartbreaking to say the least, with not one but two leading characters – Hopper and Billy (Dacre Montgomery) – dying in the closing scenes.
To recap, at the end of the season the cast fight the Mind Flayer after weeks of terrorising Hawkins with its ‘army’ of possessed residents and weird imploding rats.
While the ‘kids’ battle it out in the Starcourt Mall (and Eleven tries to kill Billy), Hopper and Joyce steal the uniforms of Russian guards in the base and attempt to close the gate to the Upside Down.
Forcing Billy to remember who he is and his love for his mother (he’s been possessed), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) finally breaks free from the lifeguard’s grip before he sacrifices himself by standing in between the monster and the teenager.
The loveable Hopper also sacrifices himself by allowing Joyce to turn the keys to close the gate while he’s trapped inside the room with a huge big laser.
Fast forward three months and the Byers family and Eleven – who now lives with the trio - are leaving Hawkins for good.
In an interview with ELLE, Brown admitted that she was less than impressed with the season’s finale.
‘I was p*ssed. I read the script and I was like, “What, how is this even possible? Why are they moving away?” They were like “Didn’t you read episode 3?” And I was like, “Oh yeah.” … Because Joyce said she wanted to move away from Hawkins. I don’t know, I just felt really against it.’
The actor also revealed that she and her co-stars shed real tears when they filmed the finale scene of Eleven and Will leaving Hawkins.
‘We all started crying and then they rolled camera and said action,’ she explained. ‘And that was it. We all started saying goodbye to each other. We felt too real.’
Sadie Sink, who plays Max in the series, has opened up about her character and teased what fans can expect from season four.
Speaking about her character, she told ELLE US: 'I'm really happy with where Max's storyline went for season four. I think you see a different side of her that I'm really excited to share with everyone.'
On the cast, she noted: 'It's always a fun time with this cast. We've got a really good group of people. This cast is like my family at this point. We've been working together for so long so it's really nice, especially during the pandemic, just really appreciated being able to be in person with one another, and working together, and just enjoy filming together.'
ICYMI, a video was released of season three bloopers...
In what's being called Stranger Things Day online, a compilation of backstage mishaps and moments from season three were released by Netflix.
Fans prepared to watch Harbour unable to keep a straight face over one line in particular, plus a whole load of behind-the-scenes dancing by Brown and co. too.
When was 'Stranger Things' season four released?
Volume 1 arrived on Friday, May 27 while Volume 2 arrived on July 1. It's believed the show will end after season five.
The Duffer Brother recently admitted to editing past seasons of their hit Netflix show without viewers realising. In a previous interview for Variety’s Showrunners Sitdown With Kate Aurthur presented by FX, the pair discussed the changes they've made to previous episodes.
'We have "George Lucas-ed" things also that people don’t know about,' Matt said, alluding to the Star Wars director and his tendency to re-edit his films years after they've been released. While it was yet to be shared which episodes have been altered (we did know that t Noah Schnapp's character Will Byers' birthday had changed from March 22 to May 22), Ross noted 'you do have the physical copies though, the Blu-rays and stuff — you’d have to compare'.
The pair said that they'd made changes to Season two, Volume 1, after it was released in May. 'Some of the visual effects. It’s not, like, story, but you’re essentially patching in shots,' revealed Ross, who asked Netflix why it doesn't usually allow editing after a series has aired. 'It makes us nervous,' he said they responded, to which he replied: 'And we were like, "Well, maybe we try it this time." And it turned out fine.'
The new season finished filming in September 2021. In June 2020, the Stranger Things writers’ Twitter account announced they had finished writing the fourth season.
In February 2022, Millie Bobby Brown shared two teaser artwork ahead of season four's release which, we must admit, has made us excited and terrified in equal measure.
'Every story starts somewhere…,' she captioned one post, while the other read: 'Every ending has a beginning.'
Producer Shawn Levy reportedly said that the latest season took longer to make than expected, but that it was 'worth the wait'.
'I'll just say that we are long-delayed, and the Duffers and I want to share season four with the world as badly as the world wants it,' he told The Hollywood Reporter. 'Part of what's taking time is long before COVID and the pandemic existed, season four was built to be by far the most ambitious, cinematic, sprawling and epic season that we've ever done.
'By not just a little – by a lot. So the complexity of season four even before we had the obstacles, hurdles and challenges of a pandemic, is taking a lot of time because it is super worth the wait.'
Prior to season four's release, Netflix shared a teaser and announced that the series would return in 2022. The sneak peek included scenes from the next season and showed Eleven with a fringe.
Prior to Netflix' announcement some believed the release date would be hidden in one of Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapps) drawings in season three.
The drawing showed a man in a prisoner's uniform, which fans on Reddit speculated could be Hopper. The number on the prisoner’s clothing was 403, which was also the number of the room in the hospital where Nancy (Natalie Dyer) visited Mrs Driscoll.
As a result, several fans believed the cryptic number suggests the series would be out on April 3 but, alas, this was incorrect.
Harbour previously hinted a release date during a Instagram Live Q&A that the fourth season was set to premiere in 2021. However, since production was shut down over due to Covid-19 safety concerns, the show's release date was pushed back.
‘[Season four was] supposed to come out early next year, I think, although I don't have authority on this,’ Harbour explained in an IG livestream. The actor actor continued, adding ‘due to all the delays, this release window is likely to be pushed back’.
In September 2020 the Stranger Things team revealed the cast and crew had begun filming again. Natalia Dyer then confirmed that news to us when we sat down with the star for a game of 'Ask Me Anything' (where she gives her take on Nancy's growth over the seasons too) during a break from filming in Atlanta, Georgia.
What have the cast said since the release of Stranger Things season four?
After the release of Stranger Things season four, Brown expressed her big ideas for the series' fifth and final season.
The actor, who plays Eleven in the show, told Total Film in October 2022: 'I'd love to be the writer! I'd make it more of a musical. But, you know, they don't entrust it in the hands of me, which they should.'
The star referred to long-running FX comedy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, starring McElhenney, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson and Glenn Howerton, when citing her inspiration.
'Trust me, I can do the finale to Stranger Things, and it would be great,' she said. 'I think it should be like It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Did you ever see the musical episode? It needs to end like that—a musical episode.'
In the fourth season of the comedy, released in 2008, the cast performed a rock opera in an episode titled 'The Nightman Cometh', based on songs written by Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day on the show).
The episode became a famous part of the show's history for fans including Brown, who was just four years old when it aired.
Brown also addressed rumours she might participate in a confirmed Stranger Things spin-off.
'I'd love to see another bald-headed 10-year-old get given that opportunity,' she quipped. 'I would help her navigate it.'
What was said about the plot for Stranger Things season four?
We imagine by now that you're all caught up on Volume 1 (I mean, what else would've you been doing with your time recently?).
Stranger Things actor Brett Gelman previously responded to homophobic Twitter trolls following speculation that Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) might be more than friends, and the creation of 'Byler'.
Schnapp confirmed that his character is gay, telling Variety: 'Now it's 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike,.But before, it was a slow arc. I think it is done so beautifully because it's so easy to make a character just like all of a sudden be gay.'
Gelman, who plays Murray Bauman in the series is on board with the Byler ship. 'I am for Byler if Byler is for Byler. If it's a match then it should be so. I'm not for Byler if Mike isn't for it because then Will gets hurt [sic],' he tweeted.
'And I also don't want El to have a broken heart. But if Byler is what is meant to be then I ship Byler BIG TIME!!! [sic].'
He later added: 'It's pretty pathetic that all you little homophobes think calling me gay is an insult. It's a compliment. So thank you. [sic].'
'I ship love in whatever form it takes baby. And y'all who don't. Maybe you're scared to look at something," before he reiterated in a separate post: 'I Stan the LGBTQ+ community. [sic].'
In 'Chapter One: The Hellfire Club', you'll likely remember that cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham (played by Grace Van Dien) came under Vecna's curse and met her untimely end.
While fans were then distraught over her death (she and Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn had just hit it off), it sounded like the creators of the show had regrets over killing Chrissy off.
Matt Duffer told TVLine: 'We always have those moments [of ‘What have we done?’].'
Discussing the pair's woods scene, Duffer revealed that it had been filmed after Chrissy's death had been agreed. 'We shot the quote-unquote drug-deal scene in the woods pretty late, actually, into shooting,' Matt explained. Ross Duffer added, 'we had already killed Chrissy when we shot that'.
'The scene came alive in a way that was just so beautiful,' Matt continued. We couldn't agree more.
In July 2022, Variety reported that the creators of the series, the Duffer brothers, insisted that character Vecna be created from practical effects (so prosthetics and make-up), instead of CGI.
The process involved a 'second skin' for actor Campbell-Bower using '25 pieces of latex and silicone rubber material glued to his body via a medical adhesive'. It's a transformation that took around 7.5 hours, and there's even an epic video behind-the-scenes video of Vecna drinking Starbucks, which you can watch below:
As for Vecna's horrifying voice? That's also Campbell-Bower.
Barrie Gower, who's in charge of creating Vecna's look, told NME that the Duffer brothers were 'very adamant that Vecna be glossy and shiny, that he looked as moist and wet as the rest of the Upside Down'. This involved covering Campbell-Bower with gel once his prosthetics were on.
He said: 'The last part of the process was the four of us artists surrounding Jamie and covering him from head to toe in this wet-look gel. It was basically gloopy lube and meant he was slimy throughout the whole shoot day. It also gave the paint job a really nice ping and made everything look really vibrant.'
Campbell-Bower filmed for 25 days - all of which incorporated the same complex process. 'It was just this massive production line,' Campbell-Bower said. 'We shot 25 days with Jamie and every day needed a brand new set of appliances because when we removed them at the end of the day, we needed to use a mineral oil which destroyed all the fragile, delicate edges where everything overlapped.'
Since the fourth season aired fans have been speculating once again about Eleven's real father.
With Eleven returning to the Hawkins Lab to regain her powers, fans on TikTok have highlighted her unmatched strength over all the other children, with some now believing her father is the One.
A video posted by Just The Nobodys podcast explains the timeline of the MKUltra experiments, which begins with Eleven's mum Terry Ives, who joined the project in 1969. Fans know that Eleven was born in 1971, which would suggest that her mother became pregnant during the tests. Moreover, a 1959 flashback in Volume 1's finale a pre-teen One/Vecna (Campbell Bower). That would mean One was 24 years old when Eleven was born.
'The theory is that Brenner knew that none of the kids, numbers Two through Ten, were as strong as number One,' one of the podcast hosts says in the TikTok video. 'So, Dr. Brenner waited for One to get older to make him breed with Terry Ives to create Eleven — to make sure that she was the strongest, and clearly, she is.'
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight last July, Harbour revealed that there's a secret he's known since the beginning that will be revealed in season four.
'There's one thing in it that plays very big in this season that I've known since the first frame of the first season,' he said. 'Me and [series creators] the Duffers would sit around and speculate, "Oh, wouldn't this be cool?" the minute we started shooting.
'We never thought we'd even get a second season, and then we get to do it in this season. It's so satisfying to have had an idea five years prior, and to go like, "Oh, this is a season when we're gonna let out this secret that we were using just as a subtle thing to inform something". We're gonna lay it out finally, and it's really cool.'
A couple of months earlier in April 2021 Gaten Matarazzo, aka Dustin Henderson in the show, confirmed to Jimmy Fallon on his evening chat show that the fourth season could be the 'scariest' one yet which, we won't lie, having already been exposed to a demogorgon made us slightly nervous for what was coming in Volume 2 (but still excited, of course).
'Oh yeah. That's the one thing I've noticed,' Matarazzo laughed. 'I was reading it like, "they're going for it this year, that's pretty cool".
Days before, Matarazzo spoke to Entertainment Tonight and suggested that the tone of the fourth season will mature, just like its cast.
'The tone has definitely matured for sure and I think they [the Duffer brothers] do that on purpose because I think they want their show to mature with their kids. We are growing older as people, we have to grow older as characters. We're confronted by this issue but they embrace it and use it to their advantage... they use it as ammunition for their writing, it's incredible what they can do.'
Days later, Matarazzo's co-star Brown had the most hilarious reaction to Harbour’s recent Instagram Live from the set of the hit Netflix show.
The actor – who is married to British singer Lily Allen – hopped onto the social media platform from the set of the TV programme in costume.
'What's going on? I'm here shooting season four of our television show. I don't think I'm supposed to be showing you this,’ Harbour said, referring to Netflix’s reputation for teasing fans over the years with Stranger Things content prior to its series' release dates.
‘Who wants to hear some spoilers for season 4? Let me just read directly from the script, that'll be good! It's a very tough day today, very tough day. I'm exhausted,’ he added.
At one point, Harbour’s co-star Brown – who plays his adopted ‘daughter’ Eleven in the show – hopped onto the Live and was clearly stunned at the actor’s candid filming from the set of the series.
'Look at the beautiful decor you know where I am,’ Harbour told Brown, who explained that she had also been in Atlanta, where the show is believed to be being filmed, recently shooting some scenes.
The actor said that he was 'still' filming and the 'days are very long days', to which Brown questioned if he was filming the Live in his Stranger Things costume.
'They saw it in the clip, it's in the trailer,’ he replied.
'Oh my gosh they're ready for you. Get off of live, go back to work!’ Brown said on hearing a member of the crew asking for Harbour during their call.
'Netflix is going to... I'm going to get fired,’ he joked, before Brown added: 'You're going get a phone call right now.'
The video didn’t go unnoticed by Netflix who commented on his video with a waving and eyes emoji. Allen also commented on the clip, writing: ‘Baybee what are you doing????? [sic]’
What did people speculate about Eleven ahead of Season four?
Remember when the Mind Flayer infected Eleven’s leg at the episode of season 3 and the teen had to cut it out in a pretty gory but weirdly spot-bursting-esque satisfying way?
Well, fans though Eleven might turn evil in season four as a result.
In an interview with ELLE, Brown opened up about the possibility of turning to the ‘dark side’ in season four.
Speaking about the fan theory, the teenager said: ‘I kind of like it! I’m into it. I wasn’t playing it like that. We don’t know what happens in season 4. I definitely don’t.’
The actor said she was trying to convey Eleven’s pain in the scene as much added that she was just trying to get Eleven’s pain in that scene across as much as possible.
‘In scenes after the Mind Flayer grabbed me, I wasn’t playing it as I was infected,’ she said. ‘I was definitely playing it as normal as possible. And maybe that’s the reason they didn’t tell me. To make it as real as possible.’
'Those theories freak me out a bit. Because I’m like, "Oh god, that could genuinely be true",' she continued. 'And what if she is the villain? That would be so cool. Wouldn’t that be cool? I’d love to be the villain, but then I also wouldn’t because Eleven is perfect. It would suck.'
Who makes up the cast of Stranger Things Season four?
Stars include Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers) and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), to name but a few.
On February 14, 2021 the show also gifted fans update on production that confirmed the return of Hopper.
Netflix released a video of the Stranger Things 4 table read which featured actors Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, Natalia Dyer, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Maya Hawke, and David Harbour.
In November, 2021 Netflix unveiled eight new cast members who were heading to Hawkins for season four.
Three of the new cast are regulars and include some familiar faces like Booksmart's Eduardo Franco, who plays Jonathan's new best friend Argyle, Twilight's Jamie Campbell-Bower as Peter Ballad - an orderly at a psychiatric hospital - and Game of Thrones' Joseph Quinn.
Another GOT star Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H'ghar in the fantasy series) has a recurring role in the fourth series, as will Teen Wolf's Mason Dye.
In June 2020, Netflix announced four further new castmates in the form of Amybeth McNulty, best known for playing the title character in the streaming service's drama Anne with an E. McNulty, was set to play Vicky, described as a 'band nerd who catches the eye of one of our beloved heroes'.
Myles Truitt - who has had parts in Queen Sugar and Atlanta - plays Patrick, a basketball star student at Hawkins High who soon experiences some 'shocking events that send his life spiralling out of control'.
Next is Grace Van Diem, who portrays the 'most popular girl in school', Chrissy - the lead cheerleader of Hawkins High with a 'dark secret' lying underneath her outwardly seeming perfect life.
Finally, Regina Ting Chen, who you might recognise from Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and HBO's Watchmen, portrays the guidance counsellor at Hawkins High, Ms Kelly 'who cares deeply for her students'.
Was there a trailer for Stranger Things Season four?
Yes, an official trailer (which you can watch below) for the fourth instalment of the series was released on April 12, 2022.
It showed characters Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Max entering high school while Eleven and Will are in California and a new supernatural threat arising, forcing them to face the terrors of the Upside Down again.
In the one clip, Eleven warned: 'A war is coming. Your friends in Hawkins are very much in the eye of a storm. I don’t know how to say this other than just to say it — without you, we can’t win this war.'
Later in the trailer, a title card read: 'Every ending has a beginning.'
Hopper was also revealed to be alive (no real shocker there after years of teasers), though imprisoned in Russia and forced to battle a Demogorgon with soldiers.
The trailer concluded with the appearance of what was a human-Demogorgon hybrid that can speak.
In September 25, 2021 Netflix shared a teaser which showed fans what appeared to be a haunted house in Hawkins called Creel House.
At the very end of season 3, fans will remember that in the post-credit scenes the Russians referred to a prisoner named ‘The American’, which led many of us to believe that – somehow – Hopper was still alive.
In September 2020 Stranger Things released a trailer for its upcoming fourth series during which the makers of the series show a glimpse of what appeared to be Hopper and Eleven’s house in the woods in the Upside Down.
In the 45-second clip – which has been viewed over eight million times - the house’s outside light shines flickered and then went out before the words ‘We’re not in Hawkins anymore’ appeared across the screen.
The speculation that Hopper was alive (and dubiously well) in the Upside Down was further fuelled when Harbour posted a picture of his character hugging Eleven with the suspicious caption ‘and the universe will turn in on itself and implode'.
The actor later changed his display photo to an upside-down version of the fan art.
A new teaser, released on Valentine’s Day this year, featured his character and came with the following statement from the show’s creators:
We're excited to officially confirm that production on Stranger Things 4 is now underway—and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper! Although 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.
From Russia with love, The Duffer Brothers.
But, this wasn't everything. On May 6, Netflix released a one minute nine second teaser trailer for season four and if we're honest, we're not sure we breathed throughout that whole one minute nine seconds.
The trailer showed several mini Elevens, children with shaved heads and in hospital style nightgowns, completing tasks and playing until the man with the white hair (remember him?) returns and tells them, good morning, to which they reply 'Good morning Papa.'
We were then taken out of the situation to room number 11, where heavy breathing (presumed to be Eleven's) was heard. Finally, at the end of the clip, the male voice (presumed to be the man with white hair's) said, 'Eleven are you listening?'...
What did Natalia Dyer said about Season four?
Speaking to ELLE UK in November 2020, Dyer aka Nancy was a few weeks into filming following the resuming of production following the pause as Coronavirus began to take hold, when she told us: 'I'm so excited for this season. There's a lot going on'.
The Yes God Yes star also opened up about having creative input when it comes to Nancy in season three, and the collaborative approach she shares with the Duffer brothers.
'There was one scene from last season that I did with Charlie [Heaton aka Jonathan Byers0] which was written one way and then we discussed with the [Duffer] brothers giving them a little bit more of an emotional moment. The great thing about the show is that it balances this action, plot-driven story with characters with a lot of heart. For a lot of the actors we really care about that, and they really collaborated and let us try different things in the end and I think, personally, it turned out for the best.'
Previously Dyer opened up to our sister site ELLE.com about her character in season four: ‘I see her as this person in pursuit of information and justice and I can’t see her putting that investigative nose down. I loved seeing the sensitive side of Nancy and the badass side of Nancy. I hope she’s still going strong and her instincts and her passion remains intact.’
On what she’d like to see resolved next season, she added: ‘Obviously what happens to Hopper, but also the Byers move away—what’s that going to be like, especially since everyone is in a relationship?
‘I feel like long-distance is hard nowadays, so imagine long-distance relationships back then.’
Musing about a possible reconciliation with her character’s ex boyfriend Steve, she said: ‘I’d love to see if her and Steve would ever get back together, or at least if they get closure. Will their chapter ever close? I'm very curious. Also, I want her to get a female friend. RIP Barb.’
How popular was 'Stranger Things' season three?
Stranger Things season three became Netflix's most-watched original series ever, the streaming serviced announced on in 2020 in its quarterly earnings report.
According to Netflix, the sci-fi drama had more than 64 million views in the four weeks after the season’s premiere on July 4, 2020.
Less than a week after the season’s release, Netflix stated that 40.7 million member accounts worldwide had viewed the series, which is the fastest a Netflix original had ever amassed such a big audience. What’s more surprising is that more than 18 million member households had finished the eight-episode season in just a few days.
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
