November 7 marked a very special day across the four corners of the Internet – and no, we’re not referring to N7 Day and Mass Effect pandemonium. Stranger Things season 2 officially entered production just yesterday, and excitement is slowly beginning to build in anticipation of the show’s return in 2017.
Comprised of nine episodes in total – up one from the original run of eight – Netflix’s casting department has been bustling with activity, after Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery secured their place for the second season of Stranger Things, before Sean Astin, Paul Reiser and Linnea Berthelsen all landed roles. Click through the respective link to learn more about their characters.
Now that the cameras are rolling, Shawn Levy took time out to speak with Collider about the upcoming season, kicking things off by teasing the release window. Spoilers: Those nine new episodes will likely drop towards the end of summer 2017.
“That I can’t say. I do have a sense of it. It was promised when we announced that we were picked up for Season 2 and we gave those chapter headings, I believe it ended with ‘Coming in 2017’ and that much is true. You can do a little bit of math, we’re not magicians so there’s no way it launches in Spring since I just admitted we started filming today, and we’re doing nine.”
What’s more is that Levy will return to direct a handful of episodes, alternating with Matt and Ross Duffer, the show’s co-creators.
“Yes, we are a little superstitious so just like last year, they’re doing 1 and 2, I’m going in and doing 3 and 4. So the first four are gonna kick off exactly the same as last time… I am going to start prepping right around Thanksgiving and I’ll be filming my episodes through December and January.”
Could we potentially lay eyes on a third season of Stranger Things further down the line? It’s possible, and according to Levy, all on board have been quietly mapping out plans for the road ahead.
“We are not gonna be caught off guard and we don’t wanna be making stuff up like the day before we have to write it and make it, so we are definitely optimistic and we have started thinking ahead.”
A return trip to Hawkins, Indiana is in the cards, folks, that much we know, and we’ll be keeping tabs on Stranger Things season 2 as development progresses.