Stranger Things Season 3 Will Be Set In 1985, More From “Dad Steve” Promised

All in all, Stranger Things season 2 might not have received quite as unanimously glowing reviews as the first season, but the sophomore run of Netflix’s smash-hit sci-fi drama was still a barnstorming success whatever way you look at it. In particular, it evolved many of the characters in some interesting ways. Perhaps most of all, Steve Harrington was not only redeemed but became one of the most entertaining members of the cast.

Back in season 1, Joe Keery’s Steve was a stereotypical bully and high school jock, though he apologized for his behavior by the end of the run. In season 2, the character morphed into the surrogate babysitter for Dustin, Mike and the rest of the kids as they chased monsters through Hawkins. It created a terrific, instantly fan favourite dynamic, so it’s nice to hear that “Dad Steve” will definitely be back in season 3.

Producer Shawn Levy couldn’t say much about Steve’s character arc in the upcoming batch of episodes, but he did promise that fans can expect to see more of that “gold mine.”

“We’ll definitely get to see some more of Steve Harrington in season three, and I’ll just say we won’t be abandoning the Dad Steve magic. I don’t want to say much more, but I literally feel that we were walking along and we stumbled onto a gold mine with Dad Steve.”

Apart from Steve, Levy also had one other juicy nugget of info about season 3 to share. He revealed that, yes, the next run will be set in 1985. This follows the pattern of the previous seasons being spaced a year apart. Though it’s a somewhat necessary storytelling device to explain the teenage cast’s ages, the time-jumps also work as a way to give the show more 80s pop culture to dig into.

For instance, season 2 was set in 1984, which allowed it to reference that year’s Ghostbusters. Likewise, we’d bet good money that season 3 will feature a nod to 1985’s Back to the Future.

Due to the busy schedules of all involved, it’s likely that Stranger Things season 3 won’t arrive until 2019. As always, though, watch this space for more.