Warning: this post contains spoilers about Stranger Things Season 2.
Yes, we know you just spent nine hours enmeshed in the world of Stranger Things, and you're already itching for more. But since the entirety of Stranger Things 2 dropped just three days ago, you're gonna have to wait a little while for round three. Naturally, those closest to the show are keeping quiet about what comes next, but we can still discern a little information from the hints they've dropped thus far. Here's everything we know.
1) Yes, you're going to have to wait. Matt Duffer, one half of the Duffer Brothers (who created the show), told E! that the series has only been in the writers' room for Season 3 for about two days. This means the show's creators don't yet know exactly what's going to happen next.
2) The story is going to feel fresh. You probably noticed the end of Season 2 felt markedly different from the first one. Instead of a noticeable cliffhanger, the Hawkins gang received a surprise happy ending—minus that ominous final shot of the Mind Flayer hovering over a version of the school inside the Upside Down. Matt Duffer told The Hollywood Reporter they wanted a "clean slate" for the show's third installment: "We didn't want to box ourselves in for Season 3."
3) You haven't seen the last of the Mind Flayer. "This thing [is still out there]," Ross Duffer told THR. "They've shut the door on the Mind Flayer, but not only is it still there in the Upside Down, it's very much aware of the kids, and particularly Eleven." Given the immense power Eleven showcased while shutting the portal in the Season 2 finale, will she become responsible for ultimately destroying the Upside Down? And since there are others (like Kali) out there, maybe Eleven will set out on a search for them—and hopefully take Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will with her. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Matt Duffer called Season 2 Episode 7, in which Eleven spends time with Kali and her friends, "a whole little other pilot episode in the middle of your season," so it sounds like they're planning more like it.
4) Because the stars of the show are kids who are growing up, there needs to be another time jump. "They're going to be almost a year older by the time we start shooting Season 3," Matt told THR. "It forces the show to evolve and change, because the kids are changing."
5) The season might not focus on Will. After two seasons of dealing directly with the Upside Down and its monsters, Will Byers might finally get a reprieve from its horrors. "Maybe now we're going to give him a break," Matt told THR. But Noah Schnapp, who plays Will, doesn't think that's gonna happen, telling THR:
"I personally think it's not all out of him... There's this massive monster taking over all of Hawkins, and all you have to do is light a few fires and turn on a few heaters, and he's gone? It just doesn't make sense to me, really. He's still there—I just don't know how."
6) We'll probably learn more about Billy. Last time we saw Season 2's new bully, his stepsister Max was threatening his groin with a nail-decorated wooden bat if he ever bothered her or her friends again. In an interview with PopSugar, actor Dacre Montgomery revealed he had conversations about "a past and a future" for Billy while filming Season 2. "Where he's going became a discussion near the end of filming," Montgomery said. Perhaps we'll also get some flashbacks from the character in Season 3?
7) The Duffer Brothers know how the story ends—but don't know how many seasons are left. "We know where we want to go," Ross told E! "We're trying to figure out how long it will take to get there." Matt added, "Four [seasons] seems short, five seems long."
8) We may never find out what exactly the Upside Down is. "We're telling this story from the point of view of very human characters," Ross told THR. "There's no way they can ever truly fully understand this place."
