Our First Look At 'Stranger Things' Season 3 Is Here

When Was The Announcement Made? 

The announcement was made on Twitter with an image of the gang – Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will and Max – watching the Independence Day fireworks, with the tagline, “One summer can change everything”.

Has The Release Date Been Announced?

Stranger Things 3 premieres globally on July 4, only on Netflix.

What Is The Plot?

Season three will see a time jump forward around nine months, from October 1984 to July 1985. This is said to keep up with the growth of its young cast members. "We'll definitely get to see some more of Steve Harrington in season three, and I'll just say we won't be abandoning the Dad Steve magic,” Executive producer Shawn Levy revealed. “I don't want to say much more, but I literally feel that we were walking along and we stumbled onto a gold mine with Dad Steve.”

It's rumoured that we might see the return of evil scientist Brenner (Matthew Modine) whose "death" was off-camera. It's also believed that Indiana's Hawkins’ shopping centre will feature heavily in the season's plotline after the streaming service put out a fake advertisement for Starcourt Mall. Yes, that is Steve Harrington in the Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop, along with new character Robin (played by Maya Hawke).

Levy also gave fans a little insight into what we can expect from the gang come July. At the PaleyFest television festival, Levy revealed that Eleven and Mike, Lucas and Max, would all be "going strong". "But again, they're like 13- or 14-year-old kids, so what does romance mean at that stage of life? It can never be simple and stable relationships and there's fun to that instability."

Who Has Been Cast?

Main cast members Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, David Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and Winona Ryder are all returning to the show.

We will also see some new faces including Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), Maya Hawke (daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman) and Jake Busey.

As the show will be set over summer break, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) will be around having just graduated high school before (presumably) heading off to college. 

We Can Expect A Different Aesthetic This Season:

We can also expect a different aesthetic this season. "Aesthetically [the new season is] going to feel very different," Ross Duffer has promised. "Everyone is going to this new mall, seeing movies, and, of course, the Hawkins pool is open for business. I think there'll be a sense of fun and joy."

"While it's our most fun season, it also turns out to be our grossest season," he added. "We're inspired by John Carpenter's The Thing. We're inspired by Cronenberg."

Has The Trailer Been Released?

The first trailer was released on March 21, 2019. Watch below.