Fifteen months after Netflix released the first promo for season 4 of Stranger Things, a new trailer arrived earlier this week, and in typically vague and mysterious fashion, it didn’t make anything clear in terms of plot details or even when we can expect to see the next batch of episodes.
Star Finn Wolfhard has admitted that it might not be until 2022, and that would mark three years since season 3 dropped, an eternity in the world of episodic television. It’s certainly looking that way after a recent batch of set photos showed that filming is still ongoing, which is remarkable when you consider that the first footage was shot in Lithuania back in February 2020, and even after spending months on hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic, production restarted in September of last year.
Based on how long it’s been since our last trip to Hawkins, the pent up expectations and demand are more than likely going to see Stranger Things season 4 eclipse Bridgerton as the platform’s most-watched series ever, and in a new interview, star Maya Hawke unsurprisingly refused to be drawn into giving away any specifics, but she did say that it’ll be more than worth the wait.
“I’m not allowed to tell you when we finish filming, but I can tell you that, though it’s been forever, because we’ve had so much time, the level of effort, interest, and detail that the Duffer brothers have had the time to put into these scripts, and that the actors have had the time to think about their characters, it is gonna be awesome. And I’m so proud of the work that everyone is doing and I can’t wait for people to see this season. It’s been a long wait, but I think it will be worth it.”
Obviously, none of the key members of the ensemble or creative team are going to say it’ll be terrible, but two words we keep hearing in conjunction with Stranger Things are ‘bigger’ and ‘darker,’ which is the standard template for any new installment in a major property. As Netflix’s biggest show and a genuine cultural phenomenon, at the very least, the extended shutdown will have given the Duffer brothers plenty of time to fine tune the narrative to ensure subscribers get the best possible version of season 4 whenever it premieres.
