It’s officially official: Stranger Things will return to Netflix in 2017 with a second – and slightly longer – season of nostalgic thrills and spills.
News of the confirmation comes by way of the company’s Facebook page, where a new teaser (see below) revealed the titles of all nine episodes. Specific plot details may remain under lock and key for now, but at the very least fans can begin formulating their own wild theories of Hawkins and the Upside Down based on these monikers. They are as follows: “Madmax”, “The Boy Who Came Back To Life”, “The Pumpkin Patch”, “The Palace”, “The Storm”, “The Pollywog”, “The Secret Cabin”, “The Brain” and “The Lost Brother”.
Catapulting the supernatural action into the year 1984, Stranger Things season 2 will continue to draw inspiration from the genre greats and, as the Duffer Brothers revealed to Entertainment Weekly, James Cameron’s filmography.
“I know movie sequels get a lot of s—, but the ones we look up to aspire to pivot and do something different,” explains Matt. “There’s Temple of Doom, Aliens, Terminator 2. I guess a lot of this is James Cameron. But he’s brilliant.”
One tidbit that immediately catches our attention is how the co-creators plan to introduce four all-new characters with season 2 – perhaps one newcomer could relate to “The Lost Brother” episode? – but fans can rest assured that the likes of Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Joyce (Winona Ryder), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) will all make a return.
“I don’t think we ever thought anthology,” says Ross Duffer. “I think we talked like a larger time jump where the kids are older now and it’s a different decade. That’s something we batted around from the very beginning. But for us, there’s still more story here, there’s still things that are unresolved.”
Matt and Ross Duffer are once again back in the driving seat, writing and directing much of Stranger Things season 2. They’ll also executive produce the series, re-teaming with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen.
The adventure continues: Stranger Things season 2 will claw its way out of the Upside Down and onto Netflix some time in 2017. It’s understood production has been underway for quite some time – no doubt buoyed by the show’s stellar reception – so we’ll be keeping track of this new season as it nears release.