It’s hard to believe that we haven’t had a new season ofStranger Thingssince 2019. But after years of anticipation, the new trailer for the fourth and final installment of theDuffer Brothers’ mega-popular sci-fi series has finally come out — and it looks absolutely bonkers. This season begins several months after the Battle of Starcourt Mall in theStranger ThingsSeason 3 finale, and sees the characters initially trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Additionally, the core group of characters has become scattered, and the tone of the show is leaning much more into that of a horror film than earlier installments. But, as always, there is a lighter side to the trailer as well: and this time, in trueStranger Thingsfashion, it’s the copious ’80s references that have become one of the show’s trademarks.
The first shot in the trailer features the wreckage of the machine under Starcourt Mall from Season 3, now derelict after the explosion that appeared to have killed Hopper (David Harbour). Despite the Season 3 explosion, however, the same shot shows what appears to be a not completely closed rift to the Upside Down. It is the voiceover in this clip that makes the biggest impression, however:“You’ve broken everything,”a menacing voice snarls. The voice continues as the trailer cuts to the image of an eerie, ticking grandfather clock:“Your suffering is almost at an end.”Cut to black…and then, for a split second, two monstrous eyes open on the screen.
This is the season’s Big Bad, whose name is Vecna. Though his full form is not shown until the end of the trailer, he still forms a distinct presence throughout, starting with the first shot. He is also the trailer’s first ’80s pop culture reference. In their breakdown of the trailer, the Duffer brothers explain that Vecna is their attempt to make a Freddy Krueger/Hellraiser/Pennywise style villain, and that they wanted to call to mind those three horror icons in particular. However, Vecna is also an originalDungeons & Dragonscharacter from the World of Greyhawkcampaign setting authored byGary Gynax. The campaign was originally published in 1980, and in 1983, a boxed set was released, meaning that the character had his first appearance at the same time.
RELATED:‘Stranger Things’ Season 3 Recap: What You Need to Know for Season 4
The trailer next shows Max (Sadie Sink) reading a letter to her brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who was killed at the end of the last season after being possessed by the Mind Flayer. We then see how the characters are split up this season. First, in Hawkins, an upside down shot shows a body bag being loaded into an ambulance, demonstrating how the world has been slowly unraveling since the end of Season 3. Steve, Robin, and Dustin arrive in time to see the tragedy. Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) is on the basketball team, which seems to be giving him a rise in status that doesn’t extend to his friends. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) applaud from the bleachers halfheartedly. Mike is wearing a Hellfire Club shirt. The Hellfire Club is a fictional society from Marvel comics, which often comes into conflict with the X-Men. They first appeared in issue 129 ofThe Uncanny X-Men, in 1980. The posters on the wall in the gym, meanwhile, say that the graduating class is the Class of ‘86. Though this may not have been intentional, 1986 happens to be the year of the Chernobyl disaster. At the same time, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has moved in with the Byers family. They in turn have moved to California, which the Duffer Brothers have called the show’s “E.T. setting.”
Farthest away from everyone, trapped in a Kamchatka prison, is Hopper. Going back to the Chernobyl disaster, the Duffer Brothers did actually say that the parts of the trailer that show Hopper in Kamchatka were filmed in Lithuania, and that one of the reasons they chose that location was becauseChernobylwas filmed there. Could this mean that Chernobyl will form part of this season’s plot? Over footage of the prison, Journey’s “Separate Ways (World’s Apart)” plays, and continues through the rest of the trailer. This song was part of Journey’s 1983 albumFrontiers, and is another reference to how the characters are split up at the beginning of this season.
The following shots show Eleven, Mike, and Will (Noah Schnapp) at a roller rink under a disco ball; a voice says“I relocated you guys far from Hawkins because I thought you’d be safe.”Presumably, this is referring to the Byers family; and we soon see Joyce (Winona Ryder) receiving a large package from the Soviet Union.“A war is coming,”the voice continues. The Hawkins gang is shown approaching a haunted house, another sign of the Duffer Brothers’ endeavor to evoke a horror film with Season 4. This house is called the Creel House, getting its name from the Creel family who once lived there. The head of the family, Victor Creel (Robert Englund), was the only survivor after his wife and children were found slaughtered, and has lived in a psychiatric hospital ever since.
At last, we see that this latest voice talking about war belongs to Dr. Owens, who is speaking to Eleven in a diner. Dr. Owens is played byPaul Reiser. Having him meet Eleven in a diner is a callback to his role in the 1982 filmDiner, a reference the Duffer Brothers have called “an ongoing joke.” Paul Reiser is also an icon of ’80s sci-fi with his role inAliens(1986).
We are then introduced to more of the season’s monsters: demobats, following Season 1’s demogorgon and Season 2’s demodogs. From what looks like the inside of the haunted house, Steve and Nancy tell each other: “See you on the other side.”If you look closely, you may see that Steve is wearing a pin for the ’80s metal band W.A.S.P. on his denim jacket.
Hopper looks worse for wear before having a gas mask pulled over his head; but even more intense is the following sequence, which appears to be a gladiator battle between the inmates at Hopper’s prison — including Hopper himself — and a demogorgon.
The trailer then provides a glimpse of a new character named Eddie, a “metalhead/dungeon master nerd” who is also wearing a Hellfire Club shirt. A series of wild images follows: Pre-Season 1 Eleven! Steve and a glowing underwater rift? Max floating! Additionally, in the scene where Max is floating, Billy’s gravestone no longer says Billy Hargrove on it: it now spells out his full name, William Hargrove. The military appears to be getting involved; shirtless Steve whacks demobats in the Upside Down. Additionally, the Duffer Brothers confirmed that the scene in which El screams, repelling the soldiers off of her, takes place in the present day, meaning she’s going to get her powers back (though the fact that her head is shaved again suggests she will likely be captured first). The old man with the scarred eyes is another ’80s reference: this is the aforementioned Victor Creel, played by Robert Englund, the horror icon who played Freddy Kreuger in theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise.
Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) appear to be crashing a plane, while Max seems to be in some alternate dimension–perhaps with the Vecna behind her. At last, the Vecna reveals its terrifying, full form (which was apparently achieved with 90% practical effects!). Although it’s difficult to believe just how much the world has changed since the last season ofStranger Things, it seems that the Duffer Brothers have put their time to good use. It’s evident that a great deal of thought and care has gone into the crafting of the upcoming installment of the beloved series, and that this care has even extended into the creation of the trailer. From the Duffers’ commentary on the trailer, as well as from the trailer itself, there appears to still be a lot of joy in the telling of this story. Not to mention all the ’80s references we could ever need.
