Attention: You Can Watch the First 8 Minutes of "Stranger Things 4" RN

Welcome back to Hawkins, Indiana (and now, Lenora Hills, California). Stranger Things season 3 was filled with crazy moments and now fans are wondering what's next for the kids after everything that transpired at Starcourt Mall. The finale definitely brought some big changes for everyone, and things will certainly not be the same once the show comes back for its fourth season. So what's next for our favorite Dungeons and Dragons players as they continue to try to survive in their little town? Here's everything you need to know about Stranger Things season 4.

*Major spoilers for season 3 of Stranger Things below!*

Season 4 of Stranger Things will be released in May

After production delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, Stranger Things 4 is coming to Netflix on May 27, 2022. At least, Vol. I is — the show's social media accounts posted a series of posters promoting the highly-anticipated upcoming season and made the official announcement in an Instagram post.

"Every ending has a beginning. Vol. 1 is coming May 27. Vol. 2 is coming July 1," the caption reads. This means that ST4 will be divided in two separate parts, and on May 20, Netflix clarified that Vol. I will contain seven episodes while Vol. II will have two. The streamer also shared the first eight minutes of the season's first episode, which you can watch below:

Before any official announcements were made, David Harbour reassured fans that Stranger Things 4 was coming soon while he was on the jumbotron at a New York Knicks basketball game. Sitting courtside next to Noah Schnapp, David held up his phone, which read the message "Stranger Things Season 4 is coming soon, promise."

Is there a full trailer?

Yes! While we still have a few weeks to go, the official full trailer for Stranger Things 4 dropped on April 12 and we have chills. Hopper is alive and imprisoned in Russia, Max is levitating midair, the Hawkins kids are preparing for war with the Upside Down, while Eleven is told that she's the only one who can save them, and OK, now demogorgons can speak?! So much is happening.

Netflix gave fans a glimpse into Stranger Things 4 in a teaser trailer that dropped on September 26, 2021.

The clip introduces a brand new setting in Hawkins, the Creel House. In the beginning, there's a flashback of a family from the 1950s or 1960s displaying some peculiar behavior in the house. The clip then fasts forward to the '80s, the decade that the show primarily takes place. Mike, Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max, and Steve are exploring the Creel House, which seems to be abandoned. Could this be a major factor in the ST4 plot?

In case you need a refresher, Eleven and the Byers family made the move to California at the end of season 3. On November 6 — also known as Stranger Things day, as it's the date Will went missing in season 1 — Netflix dropped a few teasers, where we see Eleven (with a brand new hairstyle!) adapt to her new environment while writing a letter to Mike.

Are there any photos from Stranger Things 4?

Yep! On March 23, 2022, Netflix dropped *multiple* photo dumps on Twitter with brand new pics from the upcoming season. This is surely enough to hold Stranger Things fans over until the new episodes drop on the streaming platform in May, but until then, I have lost any ability to chill.

Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, took to Instagram to share some behind-the-scenes shots from Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 6, 2022. "What's something that feels illegal but isn't? Posting anything related to Stranger Things before the season comes out," the 17-year-old star wrote in his caption.

In the photos, he's rocking a light blue Stranger Things 4 sweatshirt with "Albuquerque, NM" written on the sleeve. So, where can I get one of my own? ...Asking for a friend.

Are there any new characters?

Looks like there are going to be some brand new faces joining the cast and one of them has a big link to an already beloved star on the show. During Netflix's Geeked Week, the Duffer Brothers announced some never-before-seen characters for season four.

Amybeth McNulty as Vickie: "a cool, fast-talking band nerd who catches the eye of one of our beloved heroes."

Myles Truitt will be playing Patrick, "a Hawkins basketball star who has friends, talent, and a good life…until shocking events send his life spiraling out of control."

Regina Ting Chen is Ms. Kelly, "a popular guidance counselor who cares deeply for her students — especially those struggling the most."

Grace Van Dien as Chrissy: "Hawkins’ High lead cheerleader and the most popular girl in school. But beneath the seemingly perfect surface lies a dark secret."

According to Fansided, Maya Hawke's brother, Levon, has been spotted around set as a punk character. Since Netflix has yet to announce his casting, we're still not 100 percent sure what kind of character he'll be playing, but it looks like he might be acting alongside his sister as they were all spotted filming at the same video store together.

Netflix also announced eight additional cast members that have been added for season four. TVLine was the first to report the news of the new additions, which include a horror film icon and Booksmart actor.

Robert Englund, who is known for playing Freddie Kruger, is joining in as Victor Creel, "a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s."

Jamie Campbell Bower is Peter Ballard, "a caring man who works as an orderly at a psychiatric hospital. Tired of the brutality he witnesses day after day, will Peter finally take a stand?"

Booksmart star Edwardo Franco is Argyle, "Jonathan’s new best friend, a fun-loving stoner who proudly delivers delicious pizza pies for Surfer Boy Pizza."

Joseph Quinn is Eddie Munson, "an audacious 80’s metalhead who runs The Hellfire Club, Hawkins High’s official D&D club. Hated by those who don’t understand him — and beloved by those who do — Eddie will find himself at the terrifying epicenter of this season’s mystery."

Sherman is Lt. Colonel Sullivan, "an intelligent, no-nonsense man who believes he knows how to stop the evil in Hawkins once and for all."

Mason Dye is Jason Carver, "a handsome and rich sports star who is dating the most popular girl in school. But as a new evil threatens Hawkins, Jason’s perfect world begins to unravel."

Nikola Djuricko is Yuri, "a seedy and unpredictable Russian smuggler who loves bad jokes, cold hard cash, and crunchy style peanut butter."

Tom Wlaschiha is Dmitri, "a Russian prison guard who befriends the very much still alive Hopper. Dmitri is smart, cunning, and charming… but can he be trusted?"

What is going to happen in season 4?

Make sure you've watched the entire season 3 finale because there was an extra mid-credits scene that sets up the next season. We see the Russians are up to no good again despite Starcourt Mall now gone. Unfortunately, one of their prisoners is taken to be eaten by the new demogorgon that they've created. Plus, they mention that they have an American prisoner locked up, which has since been revealed to be Hopper.

This also means that the fight for Hawkins still isn't over yet and that the group will likely reunite to get the Russians and their crazy experiments out of town for good.

How will season 4 be different from the rest?

For starters, Stranger Things showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that the season 4 finale will be more than two hours long. In a May 2022 interview with The Wrap, the Duffer Brothers said that some episodes are slated to run longer than most movies. "[Episodes] seven and nine, in particular, are movies," Matt told the outlet. "And nine is a long movie." Ross confirmed that they're still refining the season finale, but that it'll likely be more than 2 hours long because of different plot points in the series. "Characters [are] spread out in three locations and we had a lot more plot. It must be quadruple the plot we had in Season 3," Matt said.

The Duffer Brothers also opened up about the expanded storylines for this upcoming season during Deadline's Contenders Television panel on April 10, 2022. "We kind of jokingly call it our Game of Thrones season because it’s so spread out, so I think that’s what’s unique or most unique about the season," Matt said. "Joyce and [the] Byers family have left at the end of Season 3," he continued. "They are in California – we’ve always wanted to have that like ‘E.T’.-esque suburb aesthetic, which we finally got to do this year in the desert; and then we have Hopper in Russia; and then of course we have a group remaining in Hawkins. So we have these three storylines, are all connected and kind of interwoven together, but it’s just very different tones."

The brothers also promised that season 4 will answer a lot of questions, including the background on all of the supernatural and mythological ongoings in Hawkins: "Back when we did Season 1, Netflix just kept going ‘Can you explain all this mythology to us?," Ross Duffer shared. "So we wrote this giant 20-page document, which talked about everything in terms of what was going on and what exactly the Upside Down was. And then each season we’re just sort of peeling back the layers of that onion, so to speak. But this season, we really wanted to really get into it and [revealing] some of those answers. But to do that properly, we needed time, so it just became bigger and bigger."

In a December 2021 interview with ELLE, Sadie Sink dropped some teasers. While she couldn't say too much, she weighed in on Max's journey for the upcoming season. "I'm really happy with where Max's storyline went for season four," she said. "I think you see a different side of her that I'm really excited to share with everyone."

She also said that the cast is closer than ever. "We've got a really good group of people. This cast is like my family at this point," she dished. "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."

If you're not a fan of scary stuff, then you might want to think twice before watching season 4 of Stranger Things when the sun's not out. Gaten Matarazzo shared details about the brand new season to Us Weekly and noted that it's not for the faint of heart: "I think most would probably say it’s the scariest [season] out of the previous three, which I love because it’s very fun to film," he said.

Joe Keery, who plays Steve, previously revealed that things in Hawkins are a lot darker than what fans are used to: "Oh man, it's pretty amazing – the Duffer brothers have really done it again," he told Total Film Magazine. "I think that this year – and I know I say this every single year – but this is definitely going to be a lot scarier than prior years, because last year was pretty dark."

With some possible new villains and the Russian army trying to get control of Demogorgons, things are definitely bound to get scarier and crazier in Hawkins.

How many episodes will Stranger Things 4 be?

The Stranger Things writers gave fans a special treat when they tweeted out that all the scripts for the season were officially complete. The stack included nine complete scripts, meaning that season 4 will officially be one episode longer than the third.

Thanks to Stranger Things Day 2021, Netflix brought a few goodies for Hawkins fans everywhere — including a list of the episode titles for season 4.

The nine titles include:

• The Hellfire Club

• Vecna's Curse

• The Monster and the Superhero

• Dear Billy

• The Nina Project

• The Dive

• The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

• Papa

• The Piggyback

At the end of the video, there's a message that reads "In the spring of 1986, the adventure continues..."

Who will be coming back to the cast for Stranger Things 4?

This one is a tough one since there were a lot of tearful goodbyes at the end of the season. With Will, Jonathan, Joyce, and El moving away from Hawkins, we're not sure how this party will stay together when a new demogorgon comes into town. Chances are that we won't see Darce Montgomery back this season after Billy died at the end of season 3, but there's always some possibility of flashbacks or some other special scenes. Plus, there's the big question of where Hopper might be or whether he's dead or alive. Luckily, Netflix already confirmed that he is alive and well in a special clip that was posted on Valentine's Day.

Rumors started swirling on December 4, 2021, after Nina Dobrev posted an Instagram of herself standing outside a building clearly marked, "Hawkins High School: Home of the Tigers." As if that wasn't enough of a tease, she slyly captioned the pic: "stranger things have happened..." The Stranger Things fandom instantly started speculating that she appears in season four. However, Netflix has not confirmed Nina's casting and no other information has come out about her possible involvement. Only time will tell if the rumors are true.

What has the cast said about the future of Stranger Things?

While season 4 will debut in two parts this summer, season 5 marks the end of the supernatural series (the release date is still TBD). During an appearance on Today, Noah Schnapp admitted that he was emotional when he learned that Stranger Things is coming to a close (same here, Noah). "It's super sad... I was, like, in tears when they released the announcement that it's 'the beginning of the end,'" he said.

Although the cast had an idea that they'd soon be parting with their Hawkins counterparts, the news was still "bittersweet," said Priah Ferguson.

"No one told us for sure until the announcement was made," Sadie Sink added. Rest assured, no fan wants to say goodbye to Stranger Things. Us included.

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