When Stranger Things Season 4 finally debuts on May 27 on Netflix, it will be a much darker storyline than before.
The streaming service on Tuesday dropped our most extensive look at the new season to date, thanks to a three-minute trailer, and we’re very impressed.
The trailer is probably one of the most shocking trailers of a TV show in recent memory, largely because it gives so much away.
it certainly makes you wonder what they have on tap for what we didn’t get to see in the trailer.
Paul Reiser’s Dr. Sam Owens is back, and has a stern warning for Eleven.
“A war is coming. I’m afraid your friends in Hawkins are very much in the eye of the storm,” he says.
“Without you,” he adds, “we can’t win this war.”
The most shocking aspect of this conversation is that Eleven still has no powers. Might Sam know a way to bring them back?
There are also many hints that the town of Hawkins is cursed, and while that could explain a lot of the happenings, there is so much we don’t know about the mythology.
Netflix confirmed earlier this year that Stranger Things Season 4 would be divided into two parts, but that a fifth — and final — season had been ordered.
“Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,” creators Matt and Ross Duffer shared in a statement in February.
“At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but — as you’ll soon see for yourselves — we are not hurling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; Season 5 will be the last.”
The EPs also teased potential spinoffs, writing: “There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things: new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes.”
“But first we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension known only as the Upside Down.”
The cast includes Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), and Noah Schnapp (Will Byers).
Also starring is Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler) with Matthew Modine (Dr. Brenner),and Paul Reiser (Dr. Owens)
There are plenty of shocking moments in the trailer, and we want you to be shocked, so watch the full clip below.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/05/27/720/n/1922564/8e14f8036a1719329379c5.86726960_.jpg "Ciara Miller and the Art of Dressing for Revenge")
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/05/11/678/n/1922564/5eada73d6a01f2d3b10453.48636618_.jpg "Lisa Wore an Under-0 Bra Top to the Met Gala After Parties Plus More Celebrity Looks")
