‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: What We Know

While shows like Bridgerton and The Witcher are on the rise, Stranger Things will soon return for its fourth season and remind everyone who is Netflix‘s original heavy-hitter. While the coronavirus pandemic has delayed its release, production for Season 4 is currently ongoing. The details that have been released are vague, but here’s what we know about the upcoming adventures for Eleven and the rest of the Hawkins crew.

As fans will remember, the third season ended with the apparent death of Jim Hopper. However, Netflix revealed that this was not the case and that the Indiana police chief had somehow ended up in a Russian prison camp. Stranger Things star David Harbour could not be more excited for Season 4 and Hopper’s evolution. “I’ve had those discussions with [the Duffer brothers] from the very first season,” Harbour told Total Film. “We were always interested in that idea of the Gandalf resurrection – Gandalf the Grey who fights the Balrog and then becomes Gandalf the White. It’s the idea of the resurrection of the character. And mythologically, Hopper, in a sense, had to change. I mean, you couldn’t go on the way he was going on. He has to resurrect in some way.”

Harbour explained that he knew the entire time that his Season 3 demise would not be permanent and that Season 4 will dig into his complicated backstory. “I’m so excited about revealing this aspect of the character,” Harbour continued. “It’s one of the things that I’ve known since the first frame of the first shot, and we haven’t expressed it yet. And finally we’re gonna express it in a big way. It’s my favorite thing about him that you guys don’t know about him yet, but it has to do with these backstories of New York, Vietnam, and dad. And I’m really excited for you guys to know more about that, and it relates, of course, to things he’s doing with Eleven and Joyce and things like that.”

Harbour also told PEOPLE that this season was his “favorite because he [Hopper] really is going to show you some new colors and what he’s really made up of.” Harbour’s costar Joe Keery told fans that season four was the most frightening yet. “I think that this year — and I know I say this every single year — but this is definitely going to be a lot scarier than prior years, because last year was pretty dark,” Keery promised. Actor Gaten Matarazzo had a similar response, describing season four as “yikes” to Us Weekly. “I think most would probably say it’s the scariest [season] out of the previous three, which I love because it’s very fun to film.”

The fourth season might be terrifying and full of character development, but Netflix and showrunners The Duffer Brothers are keeping a tight lid on all plot details. However, new cast members have been announced, notable horror icon Robert Englund. Other new additions include Jamie Campbell Bower, Eduardo Franco, Joseph Quinn, Tom Wlaschiha, Sherman Augustus, Mason Dye and Nikola Djuricko. Season 4 is currently in production in Atlanta, Georgia,, no release date has been officially announced.