We’ll have to wait until it officially releases to be sure, but it looks like the third season of Stranger Things is shaping up to be a bit of a departure. Taking place during the summer of 1985 – a nice change of pace compared to the cold autumns and winters seen previously – longtime producer (and occasional director) Shawn Levy has already teased a much darker season, a sentiment which has been echoed by Natalia Dyer, who’s played Nancy Wheeler since the show first debuted in 2016.
Frankly, this all makes a lot of sense. With new characters in the mix and the young heroes heading off to high school shortly, it’d only feel right for the inhabitants of Hawkins to be thrust into a darker, more menacing world. The show’s creative team has been teasing an entirely different kind of monster for the third season as well and recently, series star Gaten Matarazzo (who portrays the lovable Dustin) has shed some light on the level of violence on display.
As reported by ComicBook.com, Matarazzo recently sat down with the cast of Good Morning America, where he opened up on what’s in store for Stranger Things fans. He didn’t beat around the bush, either – the new episodes are more violent and gory, and definitely not for the squeamish.
“It’s definitely gorier, which is pretty cool,” Matarazzo revealed. “If you don’t like gorier stuff, I mean watch it anyway…It’s not for the faint of heart.”
This revelation might not come as a surprise for those who’ve kept up to date on trailers and other clips, but it’s nice to know that the horror factor will be dialed up a few notches. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too much longer to see it for ourselves – Stranger Things will return to Netflix on July 4th, and we should have a review of the third season up in the coming weeks.