As one of Netflix’s most popular shows, it stands to reason that Stranger Things spoilers are kept under tight wraps. So one can imagine that the streaming service was none too pleased when major plot points for the show’s upcoming fourth season were allegedly leaked by a promotional tie-in.
Images of a Stranger Things season 4 Monopoly set that surfaced on a Reddit thread this week apparently reveal major spoilers on the game’s cards for the upcoming batch of episodes premiering on May 27. Although purchase details are presently unconfirmed, the game was supposedly purchased at “a nationally recognized retailer, fair and square by a consumer,” and that “nobody stole it; nobody leaked a sample.”
And according to The Hollywood Reporter, while Netflix was apparently not thrilled by the leak, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer reportedly had a “total meltdown” over it, as the pair have long valued secrecy when it comes to upcoming seasons.
“One source close to the streamer’s tentpole series said that while its producers have a lot of involvement in, and approvals over, the vast majority of the show’s promotions and consumer products, the sheer scale and breadth of the Stranger Things franchising world is so incomparable to any other show at Netflix that the Monopoly game must have accidentally passed go.
‘Lessons have been learned and, I expect, there will be more cohesion going into season five,’ the source noted.”
The upcoming fourth season, which will be split into two volumes (with the second arriving five weeks after the first on July 1, 2022) is said to be the darkest yet, with its most evil villain yet — a humanoid creature called “Vecna.”
Series star David Harbour, who plays Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper, said at the season 4 premiere that Vecna is a “psychological horror” that has never been seen before. “The Upside Down has been this wild west world where there are creatures running around, there’s violence, but we’ve never seen something as calculatedly psychologically evil as this,” he added. “That’s exciting because he is a true big bad that we’ve needed in the series.”
Fans will no doubt be thrilled to see what the Duffer and company have in store. Just maybe in the meantime, avoid the board game section at your local Target.
