‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: Netflix Releases First Trailer

The Hawkins gang is back in action, and once again battling the forces of the Upside Down. Ahead of the Friday, May 7 release of Volume 1, and after more than a year of waiting, Netflix on Tuesday released the first full-length trailer for Stranger Things Season 4, teasing that “every ending has a beginning.”

Set to Journey’s 1983 classic “Separate Ways,” the trailer begins with an ominous warning, an unknown voice stating, “You’ve broken everything. Your suffering is almost at an end,” before cutting to Hawkins, Indiana, where Max grieves over her late brother Billy’s grave, stating that “everything’s changed” since his death. Season 4 won’t just be taking viewers back to Hawkins, though, because several of the kids have relocated, with the season also split between California, where Will and a now-powerless Eleven are adjusting to life as high schoolers, and Russia, where Jim Hopper is being held captive. Things aren’t looking good for the gang, though, with Season 4 set to force the characters to face even graver threats as Paul Reiser’s Dr. Sam Owens warns Eleven, “A war is coming. I’m afraid your friends in Hawkins are very much in the eye of the storm. Without you, we can’t win this war.”

Per the official synopsis, Season 4 picks up six months after the Season 3 finale, which saw the epic Battle of Starcourt. That battle “brought terror and destruction to Hawkins,” and not only left Eleven without powers, but also left Billy dead. Now, several months later, the group of friends are “struggling with the aftermath,” and for the first time, they are separated “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.”

Stranger Things Season 4 will bring back all of the familiar faces. The cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Winona Ryder, and David Harbour. Several new cast members have also been added, including Amybeth McNulty as Vickie, Myles Truitt as Patrick, Regina Ting Chen as Ms. Kelly, and Grace Van Dien as Chrissy.

Unlike past seasons, Season 4 will be split into two separate volumes, with Volume 1 set to premiere on May 24 followed by the July 1 premiere of Volume 2. The season will mark the penultimate season for the popular Netflix original, which first debuted back in 2016. In February, creators Matt and Ross Duffer confirmed that Stranger Things will end after Season 5, the two writing in an open letter to fans that “we are now hurtling toward our finale.”