Stranger Things season 4: release date, trailer and who will star in the cast alongside Millie Bobby Brown

Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s most popular original shows, and after a dramatic season three finale, the fourth season is hotly anticipated.

But when will the next series of the 80s sci-fi show be returning to our screens? This is everything you need to know.

What will season four be about?

The end of season three left viewers with a lot of unanswered questions - like what happened to Chief Hooper and how exactly the Russians detained the Demogorgon.

Season three also ended with Joyce and her sons Will and Jonathan, as well as Eleven, packing their things into a removal van, ready to leave Hawkins.

Season four could therefore see the iconic gang getting split up, as the show moves away from Hawkins for the first time.

Jonathan and Nancy also reconciled after their difficulties during the third season, so a long distance relationship could be on the cards for them.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, creators the Duffer Brothers also teased more about “portals”, which could take the characters into different worlds.

Ross Duffer said: “We have the big broad strokes. It’s just now about filling in those lines in the details. We’re pretty excited about where it’s potentially going to go. Again, like we said, it’s going to feel very different than this season. But I think that it’s the right thing to do and I think it’ll be exciting.”

Matt Duffer added: “I think the biggest thing that’s going to happen is it’s going to open up a little bit, not necessarily in terms of scale [or] in terms of special effects…but open up in terms of allowing portals into areas outside of Hawkins.”

Talking to Total Film, Joe Keery (who plays Steve) also said that the newest season would be the scariest so far.

He said: “I think that this year - and I know I saw this every single year - but this is definitely going to be a lot scarier than prior years, because last year was pretty dark.”

Is there a trailer for season four?

A trailer for season four was released on the official Netflix YouTube account on 14 February earlier this year.

The trailer is less than a minute long and doesn’t give away much information about what will be going down in the fourth season of the show.

The trailer shows a group of people working in the snow, hammering away at a train track, surrounded by Russian soldiers.

As the camera moves through the group, the trailer ends with one of the workers taking off their hat to reveal a shaved head - just before the trailer cuts to black, the audience sees that that person is Hopper.

Who is returning for season four?

There has been no official casting announcements for the fourth season of the sci-fi series, however fans can be assured that the main crew will returning, according to Digital Spy:

- Finn Wolfhard (IT, Carmen Sandiago) as Mike Wheeler

- Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) as Eleven

- Caleb McLaughlin (Concrete Cowboy, High Flying Bird) as Lucas Sinclair

- Gatten Matarazzo (The Blacklist, Angry Birds Movie 2) as Dustin Henderson

- Noah Schnapp (We Only Know So Much, Abe) as Will Byers

- Sadie Sink (Odyssey, The Bleeder) as Max Mayfield

- Joe Keery (Spree, Molly’s Game) as Steve Harrington

- Natalia Dyer (Velvet Buzzsaw, Acting for a Cause) as Nancy Wheeler

- Charlie Heaton (The New Mutants, No Future) as Jonathan Byers

- Winona Ryder (The Plot Against America, Destination Wedding) as Joyce Byers

- Cara Buono (Supergirl, Monsters and Men) as Karen Wheeler

- David Harbour (Hellboy, Extraction) Jim Hopper

Fan favourites from season three include Maya Hawke (Little Women, Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood) as Robin Buckley, so it’s likely that she could also have a larger role in season four.

Variety also reported that Priah Ferguson (The Oath, Cream X Coffee) who stars as Lucas’ sister Erica Sinclair had been promoted to a series regular for the next season.

It was also confirmed that Brett Gelman (Fleabag, Mr Mercedes) who plays eccentric private investigator Murray Bauman has also been upped to a series regular.

It’s unclear what other characters may or may not be returning for the next season.

When will series four start shooting?

The 80s sci-fi horror series was initially supposed to resume production on 17 September, however when asked about the status of the show, creators Matt and Ross Duffer indicated that this was no longer the case due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ross Duffer said: “Everyone’s excited to get back to work, but the priority is the safety of the cast and crew, and that will dictate when we go back.”

Matt Duffer added: “We’ve had a lot more time to work on the scripts. For the first time, we have all the scripts written and we’re able to look at it as a whole piece and make adjustments.”

Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, said on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon: “[The crew] already shot two weeks in Lithuania… We were just about to get into it, but for everyone’s safety and well being and health, obviously, production stopped.”

She added that everyone was “ready to get back to work as soon as this is all over”.

There is currently no release date for when the next season might drop on Netflix.

Will season four be the last?

In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, creators Matt and Ross Duffer discussed all things Stranger Things.

When asked if season four would be the last season, Ross Duffer said: “Season four won't be the end. We know what the end is, and we know when it is.

“[The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story.”

When will season four be out?

There is no set date for when season four will drop on Netflix, as production was halted due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Collider explains that previous seasons have often taken between six and seven months to complete, and four months are usually required for post production.

Previous seasons have come out in summer, so season four could also see a similar summer release.

The Stranger Things IMDb page predicts that season four will be released in 2021.

In March, David Harbour, who plays Hopper, stated in an Instagram Q&A that the fourth season was supposed to come out “early next year”, but the release date would likely be “pushed back” due to the virus.

Where can I catch up on seasons 1-3?

If you’ve missed out on the previous seasons of Stranger Things, you can catch up on the show on Netflix.

As the series is a Netflix original, all previous episodes are available to stream.

You can sign up to Netflix and enjoy a free month before having to pay for a monthly subscription.

Netflix has three plans to choose from:

- Premium, which costs £11.99 per month

- Standard, which costs £8.99 per month

- Basic, which costs £5.99 per month