Warning: This post contains potential spoilers for the second season of Stranger Things.
In a summer of disappointing blockbusters, one rare show became a cultural phenomenon: Stranger Things. Netflix’s nostalgia-packed sci-fi series scored intense engagement and rave reviews, which sets expectations for the second season high. The new season will still focus on the same core group of characters, and producer Shawn Levy told Vanity Fair that while it will be “bigger and potentially darker” they’re still aiming for the first season’s “magical storytelling.” It premieres on Oct. 31, just in time to freak you out, but until then, here’s everything we already know about the second season.
Setting:
The action picks up in 1984 around Halloween, about a year after the local government lab unleashed all that Upside Down chaos. (See the date Oct. 30 on the surveillance screen in the trailer.) As the official description puts it, “everything seems back to normal…but a darkness lurks just beneath the surface, threatening all of Hawkins.”
But the story will venture outside the Indiana town too, creators Ross and Matt Duffer told Entertainment Weekly. It’s also going to plunge us even deeper into the “alternate dimension” to answer long-simmering questions and expand on the story’s mythology.
The characters:
Good news: The young core cast will return, including Will and Eleven. Bad news: The creators promise Barb won’t be “forgotten,” but she is definitely a goner, which will be a chief concern for at least one person, her friend Nancy.
Bonus: a number of newcomers will show up to live that small town hero life. So far there’s a new protagonist Max, a “tough and confident” 13-year-old female (Sadie Sink); her bad boy 17-year-old brother “of a violent and unpredictable nature” Billy (Dacre Montgomery); and an “emotionally damaged” young woman Roman (Linnea Berthelsen), according to Netflix.
011 is back! It's official, can't wait to be back working with this lovely cast again for #strangerthings thank you to the amazing duffer brothers for having el back for a second season!❤️
A photo posted by Millie Bobby Brown (@milliebobby_brown) on
Nov 4, 2016 at 10:32am PDT
As far as new adults go, there’s Dr. Owens from the Department of Energy (Paul Reiser,) Bob Newby, (Sean Astin) who David Harbour (Chief Jim Hopper) revealed will be Joyce’s new love interest, and reportedly, Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman) a disgraced journalist who lives for conspiracy theories.
The plot:
The first teaser trailer makes it clear that the Upside Down’s horrifying history of kid-snatching is back with a vengeance. “The World is Turning Upside Down,” reads the official description, and from the looks of the massive monster literally storming into town, the multi-limbed creepy crawler could be invading the real world during prime school hours. (That is, if you believe Dustin’s “uh oh” face.)
Things aren’t that much better for the kids who survived the “other side.” In what will likely be the beginning, Will Byers basically got rescued from the Upside Down in the first season to…participate in an sinister-looking lab experiment and Eleven survived her brave face-off with the Demogorgon in the first season to…have more standard freakouts as she watches the world fall apart. Only time will tell if our heroes triumph.
Chapter names:
Season 2 will have nine total episode “chapters.” Some of the most intriguing titles are: “The Pumpkin Patch,” “The Storm” (possible nod to the ominous storm clouds in the trailer) and “Pollywog” (remember the finale? fans speculate this is all about the slimy Demogorgon spawn that Will coughed up the last time we saw him). Finally it ends with “The Lost Brother,” which could mean Eleven has a powerful sibling, or simply that we’re about to lose another kid.
Cultural references:
From Stephen King to Steven Spielberg, Stranger Things has already referenced enough influences to fill a Demogorgan pool party, and this season will be no exception. Expect a heavy James Cameron vibe, as the Duffers promised in an interview with EW. The kids will even hit middle school in Ghostbusters costumes on what looks like a regular school day, proton packs and all. Also influential will be the gothic adventure game Dungeons and Dragons (again), and teasers hint that the show could draw a parallel to the 1973 movie Mad Max. (The inaugural chapter isn’t so subtle: “Mad Max.”)