Before season 2 of Stranger Things aired late last year (our review), and all of our Halloween plans were quickly shelved, the Duffer Brothers outlined their masterplan that would see the Netflix phenom reach its conclusion after four or five seasons. And it seems that end goal is still very much in place.
Speaking to Collider in a recent interview, producer Shawn Levy assured fans that the upcoming season 3 won’t be the end of Eleven and co., as a season 4 is “definitely happening.”
“I mean I will say we have a good sense of stuff that happens in Season 4. Season 4 is definitely happening. There’s very much the possibility of a season beyond that one, that’s currently undecided,” Levy shared with Collider. “And what I would just say is part of the chaos and fun of this particular show is that while [show creators] the Duffers and the writer’s room and we producers outline the entire season, the Duffers really use the writing process to revisit, reassess and question all of their prior assumptions.”
Continuing on, he said:
“So even though we always start off with a good sense of the major arcs of the season. We’re always ready for shifts and surprises because if the Duffers stumble into a different or surprising inspiration while they rewrite the script, we’re going to follow that inspiration and throw out some ideas in order to embrace some new ones that are more exciting. And I have no doubt that Season 3 will be no exception.”
As for what to expect from season 3, whereas the previous two installments largely focused on the gang’s time in and out of school, the upcoming run will buck tradition in that it’s expected to take place during the height of summer.
“Season 3 is set in the summer, so right out of the gate that’s a big difference,” said Levy. The first two seasons were very much school-based. This is that time of year where it’s not about school, it’s about the swimming pool and campfires and parades and Fourth of July and fireworks, so there’s kind of a poppy fun to Season 3 that’s really enjoyable before things inevitably turn super dark.”
School’s out for the summer, then, and Stranger Things season 3 is officially on the way. New cast members include Maya Thurman-Hawke, while the wonderfully sassy Priah Ferguson has been bumped up to a series regular and just last week, Cary Elwes and Jake Busey hopped on board, too.
