Stranger Things

We’re now five months out from the long-awaited premiere of the third season of ‘Stranger Things’. Despite that, we know next to nothing about the season’s plot. This, of course, is owed to the truly impressive cloak of secrecy that the show is wrapped in (and no doubt a small army of lawyers to back up those non-disclosure agreements). In fact, at this stage, we know little more than the setting (in contrast to prior seasons, this one takes place during the summer) and the episode titles. But as the next few months wear on and the promotional machine gets into gear, that will slowly start to change.

While at Sundance to promote his latest film, ‘Stranger Things’ star Noah Schnapp sat down to speak with MTV News. And while much of the conversation focused on that film, it inevitably turned toward the third season of ‘Stranger Things’. Schnapp was mostly circumspect, confirming only that the season takes place in the summer of 1985, that Will is in it, and that (true to form) he won’t be catching a break this year. (Though as Schnapp notes, “I don’t think anyone in our show ever gets a break.”)

But he did let slip what might be our first hint at the season’s plot. Discussing the threats faced by the people of Hawkins over the last two seasons, Schnapp had this to say:

“Oh, yeah, the threat is… it’s brutal. It gets bad. It’s very big. I feel like every season it kinda gets more — like it’s taking over Hawkins.”

He’s not wrong.

The first season was a largely personal affair, with the primary threat being the Demogorgon that abducts and hunts Schnapp’s Will in the Upside Down when it isn’t stalking the woods around Hawkins. The second season went bigger in two ways. The first was in mirroring the jump from ‘Alien’ to ‘Aliens’. Now there are lots of Demogorgons! But it also did so in a very literal way through the introduction of the Mind Flayer, a towering, malevolent entity that can only be described as Lovecraftian.

So where do you go from there? Well, obvious jokes about an army of Mind Flayers notwithstanding, the Mind Flayer having some involvement is probably a given. After being thwarted in its season-spanning attempt to possess Will, the second season closed on an ominous shot of the Mind Flayer looming over the Upside Down’s version of Hawkins Middle School while Will and his friends attended a dance there in our dimension. Presumably, the Mind Flayer will attempt another incursion, one that poses a more general threat to the town than last time. Or maybe it just wants to hang out at the mall and the real enemy will be Wal-Mart, come to crush local businesses. Either way, we’ll find out this summer.

While Netflix has yet to announce a premiere date for ‘Stranger Things 3’, the season is currently expected to debut in the summer of 2019. The new season will feature returning stars Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Priah Ferguson, and Charlie Heaton alongside newcomers Cary Elwes. Jake Busey, and Francesca Reale.