May 27 cannot come soon enough.
Since Stranger Things 3 ended with the crew going their separate ways, many fans have wondered how the supernatural crime-fighting kids would find their way back to their hometown of Hawkins, Indiana. In the meantime, theories have run the gamut, ranging from Season 4 being a Hopper-centric story to Chernobyl being a significant factor playing a role in the plot. But now that there’s actual footage from the new season, fans have a whole new slew of ideas about what the new episodes will bring. These Stranger Things 4, Volume 1 theories based on the trailer may sound wild, but there’s a logic to every single one.
Those who have been on the fan theory hunt since the end of Season 3 should be proud of their efforts. Even the Duffer brothers are into them, with Ross telling Variety, “I’m constantly impressed with how sharp the fans are and how quickly they’re able to put something together with very, very little information.” The series creators even admitted that some the theories have been “startlingly accurate.”
And those theories were based on almost no information. Now that there are three whole minutes of footage from the official trailer, here are the new ideas emerging about the new two-part season:
Venca Is Victor Creel
The third and final camp believes that Robert Englund plays Venca, which can only mean one thing: This monster is none other than the character Englund plays, Victor Creel.
There’s a sound logic here. The trailer ends with a creepy voice that sounds suspiciously like Robert Englund’s Freddie Kruger and the appearance of a human character emerging from the Upside Down. The Creel family moved into the house back in the 1960s, and something inside it took out everyone but patriarch Victor. If it was the Upside Down that ended his family, perhaps it infected Creel as well.
Stranger Things 4 Introduces The Multiverse
This is one of those “blink and you’ll miss it” details from the trailer, but that’s what the hardcore fandom is for, to spot the things you miss. In this case, it’s Billy’s gravestone.
At the 32-second mark in the trailer, as Max starts telling Billy how terrible everything has been since he passed away, the camera puts his gravestone from and center. It reads: “Billy Hargrove: March 29, 1967 - July 4, 1985. Gone, But Not Forgotten.”
But at the 2:37 mark, as Max floats upwards to the shock of her friends, look again at the gravestone. It reads: “William Hargrove: March 29, 1967 - July 4, 1985. Gone, But Not Forgotten.”
Perhaps it’s the proliferation of multiverses in the current science fiction landscape, but some fans have convinced themselves this means there are parallel universes at play. Perhaps the Upside Down isn’t just a gateway that can travel long distances in a short amount of time, but also one that can let people pass between worlds.
Eleven's Pseudo Siblings Will Return
With all the images of Eleven’s time with Dr. Brenner and the confirmation Matthew Modine will return in Season 4, some fans are convinced that Eleven and Max won’t be the only powered people in the season.
Eleven’s trip to Chicago didn’t go over well with some fans in Season 2, and that’s because the show took the audience someplace they’d never been, did nothing, and then sent everyone back on what felt like a useless field trip. Bringing the mountain to Hawkins, as it were, both gives the show a chance to redeem that storyline and put the characters in a place where they could actually do some good.
Seasons 4 & 5 Will Be Like The Final Avengers Movies
The final theory, and perhaps most sensible, isn’t about the details of this season, but rather how Stranger Things’ final two installments will play out. A theory going around Reddit posits that the Duffers plan to follow the same model Marvel followed to bring closure to the Infinity Saga.
That means Stranger Things 4 is the “darkest before the dawn” part of the story. In short, the kids will not win this time. For whatever reason — lack of teamwork, a problem too significant for teenagers to handle alone — Season 4 could end on a final tragic note. Stranger Things 5 would then be about picking themselves back up, coming together, and defeating the Upside Down.
Suppose that’s the case, fans better stock up on tissues. Stranger Things has never been this scary.