What Have The Duffer Brothers Planned For The Fourth Season Of Stranger Things?
“Stranger Things” is the most esteemed show Netflix has on its platform. The highly acclaimed Emmy award-winning series, created by the Duffer Brothers, follows “A young boy, Will Byers, who goes missing near a top-secret government laboratory. … As friends, family, and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one very strange little girl.”
Netflix released its own viewership estimations for “Stranger Things 3,” boasting in a tweet that 40.7 million accounts had watched the show since its July 4 debut, the biggest-ever audience on the streaming service for any film or TV series in its first four days; According to Variety. So a 4th season was really a no brainer. Here’s everything we know about the next season.
So When’s it coming Out?
Back in March, David Harbour (Hopper) revealed during an Instagram Q&A that season four was “supposed to come out early next year”, but that the release date would “ probably be pushed back “ in wake of the virus.
According to Deadline, Netflix had officially halted all production of original film and scripted TV programming as of Monday, March 16th.
“There’s been lots of discussions and it’s going to be really interesting because the president [Donald Trump] has given us these guidelines for the states to open up in phases,” Stranger Things’ stunt boss Hiro Koda told ComicBook.com.
He added, “All stunts that we do, we’re physically touching each other because we’re fighting, and we’re dealing with the cast and putting them in harnesses and wires and flying them.”
In late May, stunt boss Hira Koda told ComicBook.com that the Stranger Things team had managed to film two episodes of season four before the coronavirus pandemic shut down production.
“We did three weeks of shooting when we shut down, pretty much along with the entire industry,” Matt Duffer revealed in an interview with Deadline.
Fans were relieved to hear that shooting would commence on the 17th of September and that after three months in limbo, filming would soon resume in Atlanta, Georgia. However, Hawke told AP Entertainment that might not be the case. In the quick video interview, Hawke says “ it was looking incredibly likely “ production would resume in September.
However, she adds, “ we’ll see.” That seems to imply that Hawke is unsure whether that September filming goal is realistic. She praises Netflix and SAG for being “ really responsible “ in making sure everything is safe before the cast and crew return. She also says that everyone involved is excited to get back to work.
Stranger Writers Twitter account posted a picture with the caption: “The complete season” which gives us a bit of relief that all of season four’s scripts are ready to go.
The Fourth Season is Going To Be Even Darker
Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin in the series. Whilst on a panel for Galaxycon Live, he said: “We were in the middle of filming [season] four and then they said, ‘Nope!’ They said two-week break, and we’ve been gone for three months.”
He added that he’s itching to get back to work, as once lockdown restrictions end, the season will still require another seven or eight months.
“I’ve been kind of getting antsy trying to get back into work, just because we’ve been [away] for a very long time,” he said. “We’re usually in Atlanta filming for seven, eight months and so it takes a while, it’s more than half the year where I’m away.”
What’s more, apparently the upcoming season is set to be the scariest so far — according to Keery, who plays Steve Harrington. The actor told Total Film, “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.”
This was echoed by Stranger Things’ stunt boss Hiro Koda in late May, who told ComicBook.com that season four will be “darker”.
“There’s lots of great surprises and all your favorite people are in it,” he said. “It’s going to be so good. It’s so epic.”
Ross Duffer added about a fourth run: “It’s going to feel very different than this season. But I think that’s the right thing to do and I think it’ll be exciting.” per Radio times.
While production suspension is a little upsetting for some of the cast members, Joe Kerry seems very optimistic about it and thinks it might be a new gateway for the series “Hard to say, really. I mean, it definitely gives them more time to write, and I think that that’s always good. I guess there’s the issue of the kids growing, but apart from that, I just think that we want to get the show out as soon as possible for people. That’s definitely true. But something that the [Duffer] brothers have always been extremely, extremely controlling over is just the quality control of the show. So, if this just gives them more time to realize what their vision is, then yeah, I think it could be a good thing”. per Cinema Blend.
He continued to give his spoiler-free thoughts about the upcoming season “It’s crazy! It’s crazy!’ Hmm, what to say… It’ll be worth the wait, hopefully,”
Natalia Dyer also gave her brief thoughts to The Hollywood Reporter “Normally, we get the first few scripts, and then they have to keep writing due to the schedule of it, and it takes a while to craft a script.”
“So, normally, there’s a kind of ‘writing as we’re going,’ but it seems they’ve had enough time.”
Natalia added: “I think it’s maybe been a blessing for the writers, in some way, because they had the time to just sit down, think, and create. So, yeah, it appears to be that they’ve got it all down.”
“I’m very, very excited for when we do go back. I’m excited by the scripts. I’m excited for everything that this season is going to be.”
Stranger Things Season 4 “Teaser” And Guess What, Hopper’s Still Alive
Other than the Valentine’s Day teaser, a full-length trailer is yet to land. The teaser confirms Chief Hopper was alive, and in a prison camp in Russia.
Netflix revealed: “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….”
Furthermore, in May 2020 video footage surfaced of Harbour teasing a bit more about what was coming for the character in season four, hinting that his Hopper’s past will be explored in greater depth and that a huge secret will come to light — apparently one for which some clues have already been laid out.
In the footage, which originated from Liverpool Comic-Con in early March, Harbour said, “There are these three things that we’ve established in the season that if we don’t pay off, it means that they’re bad writers. And the Duffer brothers are very good writers.
“I know specifically that in season four we will give you a big, huge reveal about Hopper’s backstory.”
He added: “I’m so excited about revealing this aspect of the character. It’s one of the things that I’ve known since the first frame of the first shot, and we haven’t expressed it yet. And finally, we’re gonna express it in a big way.
“It’s my favourite thing about him that you guys don’t know about him yet, but it has to do with these backstories of New York, Vietnam, and Dad. And I’m really excited for you guys to know more about that, and it relates, of course, to things he’s doing with Eleven and Joyce and things like that.”
In a separate interview, he teased some “Indiana Jones-type” action scenes for his character.
Speaking to Deadline, he said: “I’m really excited to let people see these really deep colors in him. Each season we see a different side of him. Last season was… a bit wackier, and I loved playing that.
“Now [in season four] he is painted in a bit of a darker palette; he’s able to express some of these really deep things that we’ve… hinted at with the boxes in season two. It’s very epic. There are monsters and horror and scares,” he teased. “There’s also some great Indiana Jones-type action.”
There’s Definitely Plans For Another Season
News has been going around reassuring us that season four “won’t be the end” for the Hawkins gang as the pandemic has given them time to “look ahead” and “figure out what is best for the show”.
“The truth is we’re definitely going four seasons and there’s very much the possibility of a fifth,” Levy said. “Beyond that, it becomes I think very unlikely.”
The creators echoed these statements when speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in August, saying that season four “won’t be the end”.
“We know what the end is, and we know when it is,” Ross Duffer said. “[The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story.”
“We’ve had a lot more time to work on the scripts,” he added. “For the first time, we have all the scripts written and we’re able to look at it as a whole piece and make adjustments.”
Speaking on Lorraine in February 2020, star Noah Schnapp (AKA Will Byers) said that he was “sure” there would be another season after the fourth.
“I don’t know if I can say, but from what I think… because they haven’t really told me anything,” he said. “I don’t know what I can’t say either. I’m sure there will be another one after that. I can’t imagine this is the last… I feel like we’d know if this was. I don’t want it to end!”
And recently Finn Wolfhard told The Hollywood Reporter his character Mike Wheeler would “never leave him” and that there was still a long way to go on the show.
He said, “What I think is so great about Stranger Things is it has the Harry Potter effect — where you can see how the characters and the actors grow up over time. The character is a part of me.
“Definitely when Stranger Things ends, it is not going to feel like it didn’t happen or that Mike isn’t a part of me still. I think I will be ready to say goodbye but it will be bittersweet.
“But we still have a lot of work to do with Stranger Things.”
Millie Bobby Brown (who plays Eleven) said she was “p***ed” by her character’s departure from Hawkins with the Byers ( via The Evening Standard) — but added that the emotional goodbye scene could help foreshadow the end of the show.
She said, “I usually am the one who’s crying in every single scene and the kids have to deal with me listening to [sad] music and they’re like, ‘Oh God.’ I thought, are we all going to go off and listen to music [to prepare for the scene]? And then one of the kids was like, ‘Imagine if we have to do this for real one day’. And we were like, ‘What do you mean?’.
“And they were like, ‘What if, when Stranger Things is over, we’ll all have to say goodbye to each other and, like, this is it’.
“And we all started crying and then they rolled camera and said action. And that was it. We all started saying goodbye to each other. We felt too real.”
New Cast Members!!
If you’re a fan of Stranger things, you know that Billy (Dacre Montgomery) is certainly dead (or as certain we can be that anyone is dead in Stranger Things), and is highly unlikely to return for a fourth run; or to be honest he could be.
We should expect to see most of the main cast back for season four, including Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven, Finn Wolfhard’s Mike, Winona Ryder’s Joyce, Noah Schnapp’s Will, Caleb Mclaughlin’s Lucas, Gaten Matarazzo’s Dustin, Natalia Dyer’s Nancy, Charlie Heaton’s Jonathan, Maya Hawke’s Robin and Joe Keery’s Steve.
Variety also reported that Priah Ferguson, who plays Lucas’s sister Erica, has been promoted to series regular for season four.
And in March 2020, it was confirmed that Fleabag star Brett Gelman had also been upped to series regular. The actor plays eccentric private investigator Murray Bauman, who helped get justice for Barb in season two and acted as a Russian translator in season three (RIP Alexei).
A notable Game of Thrones star Tom Wlaschiha shall be joining the party. He played ‘Faceless Man’ Jaqen H’ghar in HBO’s series Game of Thrones, and will now appear to play a mysterious Russian soldier.
We can also expect some “icon[ic]” actors to join the cast as guest stars, according to the series creators.
“We have some cool [guest stars]. A couple of cool ones this year,” Matt Duffer told Deadline. “It’s a really fun way to get to meet one of your icons, you know? Write a part for them and see if they want to do it… these are actors we grew up watching so it’s amazing and surreal.”
A few Stranger Fans viewers are convinced that Jonathan and Will Byers’ dad, Lonnie Byers (Ross Partridge) will return for the upcoming season after seeing him at a table reading for season four.
Reddit user LastWarrior24 posted a photo from the video, appearing to show Partridge at the table read. Could Lonnie become a part of something bigger than we could possibly imagine? I sure hope so.
Phew! that is a lot to digest. Let us know if you’re ready to dive into the next chapter of stranger things!!
Originally published at site:theweeklydiversion.com on August 22, 2020.
