'Stranger Things' Season 4 Trailer Reveals New Horrors

A revealing new trailer for Stranger Things Season 4 dropped Tuesday morning leaving fans with many questions about what’s in store when Netflix begins streaming the show on May 27. Originally titled Montauk while in development, the series was inspired by legends surrounding Camp Hero and the so-called Montauk Project, before it was relocated to the now famous Hawkins, Indiana. According to the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer (aka the Duffer Brothers), Season 4 will be separated into two parts in the lead up to the final chapter in Season 5.

The Season 4 synopsis via Netflix says, “It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.”

Tuesday’s trailer, which tells us “Every Ending Has a Beginning,” offered much to unpack, but some key points stand out:

First of all, the season takes place in three main locations — California, Russia and Hawkins — with three connected storylines. Four locations if we include the Upside Down.

Eleven (played by Millie Bobby Brown) still doesn’t have her powers, and she continues to struggle with her traumatic past.

The rest of the gang are trying to move on at school, with Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) apparently becoming more popular as a member of the basketball team. Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) looks fully nonplussed as he and Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) watch a happy, confident Lucas at his game.

Veteran horror actor Robert Englund, made legend for his portrayal of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, has joined the cast as murderer Victor Creel, shown as a creepy old man with scarred-shut, puss-leaking eyes at 2:43 (and possibly the big, Upside Down-dwelling, tentacle-attached bad guy shown in the trailer’s final moments). Meanwhile, Creel’s creepy, boarded-up house seems to be central to everything — and the teens pay it a visit, which recalls scenes from IT, also starring Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler).

This new Upside Down creature, seen at the end of this trailer, follows Season 1’s villain, the Demogorgon, and the Mind Flayer in Season 2 and Season 3. Will he/it be the ultimate evil for the gang to face, or is this just one more step to the final big bad in Season 5?

Dr. Owens (Paul Reiser) recruits Eleven, who he says is the only hope of winning the war against the evil Upside Down, but, as noted, she points out that her powers are gone.

Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), on the other hand, may have some new powers of her own! We see her floating in the graveyard, much to the shock of Lucas, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) and Dustin who are with her.

Jim Hopper (David Harbour) finds himself in a Russian gulag, either fighting against other prisoners or joining forces to escape and/or fight a Demodog in the prison.

Joyce Beyers (Winona Ryder), who has moved to California with her family, receives a package from Russia, likely from Jim, and may actually get on a plane to go find him with Murray Bauman (Brett Gelman), as seen when they crash into a snowy wilderness at 2:45.

And there’s a new, super-metal Dungeon Master character who later appears shredding on guitar in the Upside Down — we have so many questions about this guy. Did you notice the Russian building motif behind him at 2:30?

These observations of course just scratch the surface of this jam-packed trailer that promises the most epic season of Stranger Things yet. The Duffer Brothers did Deadline that the scope would be greatly expanded and episodes will be longer than ever.

Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 1 begins May 27 on Netflix, followed by Season 4, Volume 2 on July 1. The show will conclude after Season 5, though the Duffer Brothers say this isn’t the end of the Stranger Things franchise. They plan on creating new Stranger Things stories with different characters in the future.