When is Season 3 coming out?

Just before the clock struck midnight on the last night of 2018, Netflix sent fans into the new year with the exciting news that Stranger Things 3 will (finally!) return on July 4, 2019.

Along with the release date, they shared the official poster of the forthcoming season, featuring the foreboding phrase, “One summer can change everything,” and a graphic of the young cast watching fireworks explode over what looks like a local fair. This is Stranger Things, though, and of course Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven looks terrified, even as she holds her sweetheart Mike’s hand, as some sort of darkness continues to encroach on their quaint Indiana town.

The season comes nearly two years after Stranger Things 2, but the long wait will likely be worth it, as Netflix’s VP of original content Cindy Holland told Deadline that “more special effects” and a higher production value contributed to the lengthy gap between seasons.

Is there a trailer?

Yes! The full-length trailer for Stranger Things 3 dropped in late March following the release of a foreboding teaser (for that, see below) the day prior. It starts out as a sunshiny glimpse into summertime in Hawkins (county fairs, hanging by the pool, galavanting through fields), and a look at the core AV Club plus Eleven plus Sadie gang declaring they’re “not kid anymore” and moving into the frightening, uncharted territory of adolescence. And, of course, that’s not the only thing haunting the kids, the Upside Down still has yet to cease to exist! Season 3 looks just as nostalgic, and even more cinematic!

There’s also a creepy, vermin-infested teaser

Demogorgons aren’t the only creature infesting Hawkins! There’s a frightening abundance of rats! And they’re running from (or toward) something!

After a whole lot of silence since the early 2019 announcement of the Season 3 premiere date, Netflix went ahead and shared a cryptic, brief teaser in mid-March to get fans excited, and to anticipate the drop of the trailer the next day. Accompanied by the caption, “It’s almost feeding time,” the video shows a hoard of rats scurrying across what looks like an abandoned building. Are they the ones feasting off of something (probably gross and dead, as vermin are one to do)? Or are they trying to escape? Perhaps from flesh-eating monsters from the Upside Down who’ve turned to animals to lay low? That, we don’t know! While only a split-second of a clip of these little critters were featured in the actual trailer, it’s safe to say they may be a large part of Season 3, or at least a clue to whatever mystery unfolds.

“Stranger Things 3” will have (slightly) fewer episodes than last season

The third installment will only have eight episodes — a slight decrease from 2‘s nine, but the same as the first season’s total.

To fill fans’ void of the show, but keep them constantly speculating about Season 3, Netflix dropped a teaser trailer revealing the eight episode titles as they did for Season 2. Accompanied by the classic eerie theme, they reveal the titles “Suzie, Do You Copy?” “The Mall Rats,” “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard,” “The Sauna Test,” “The Source,” “The Birthday,” “The Bite,” and “The Battle of Starcourt.” At this point, it’s all very mysterious!

Wait, will the “Stranger Things”lawsuit halt Season 3?

Since the series wrapped up production and already has a release date, that seems highly unlikely. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t affect information regarding Season 3 from getting leaked or the future of the series, though. For context: Filmmaker Charlie Kessler filed a lawsuit in LA Superior Court in April 2018 claiming the Duffer Brothers stole the plot of Stranger Things from him, alleging he met them at a Tribeca Film Festival after-party in 2014 and pitched a similar story (a film called The Montauk Project). While the Duffers have called the whole suit ” completely meritless,” their attempts to brush it under the rug are no more, as a judge denied their request for a summary judgement in April 2019 and now they’ll have to appear in court for a trial scheduled to begin May 6.

To prevent any plot points and confidential information about the series and its upcoming season from being released, the Duffers have already brought forth a motion requesting much of the trial be sealed. The Hollywood Reporter noted an attorney for the brothers said, “Public disclosure threatens substantial harm not only to their legitimate privacy interests, but also as to their ongoing commercial efforts, including by revealing confidential information that may be included in future episodes of Stranger Things.” So, if this motion isn’t passed, that could mean spoilers abound… but that probably won’t happen. What’s really at stake is whether or not Kessler will win the suit, which doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate end to the series, but rather he would acquire a large sum of monetary shares in it, as if it’s a joint-venture he was involved in all along.

Where will Season 3 take place?

Mostly Hawkins, but don’t forget about Kali, perpetually on the lam. The seventh episode of 2 was the show’s way of starting drama outside Hawkins and fleshing out its world. As the brothers have already admitted, the saga would get too insane and unbelievable if it just stayed in one place forever. (“They’re going to have to get the fuck out of this town!” Ross told Vulture. “It’s ridiculous.”) So, don’t be surprised if you see more side quests.

When will Season 3 take place?

Season 3 will jump ahead to summer 1985 (aka when Back to the Future came out!) — in large part to keep up with the aging-child-actors dilemma. “We’re never going to do a storyline that pretends the kids are younger than they are,” Levy told Collider. Considering the characters will all be around 14 — and the actors a little older — we might see them getting ready to start high school.

Source: MF