The end of Stranger Things Season 3 – on screens all the way back in summer 2019, which feels almost as far back as its '80s setting – saw Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and family (including tagalong Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown) leaving Hawkins, Indiana for the sunnier and – they hope – safer shores of California. Hopper (David Harbour), meanwhile, ended up alive but trapped in a Russian prison after his seeming sacrifice play against the terrifying forces of the Upside Down. The latest teaser for Stranger Things 4 focuses on the first half of that cliffhanger.
Yes, we catch up with Eleven in California, where she's writing to Mike (Finn Wolfhard) about how she's finally starting to settle in her new hometown. From the evidence here, though, that's not quite true – without her powers, she's still dealing with threats, though in this case more from annoying class bullies. Admitting she can't wait to catch up with Mike at Spring Break, we then see a montage that suggests the new season will not be a parade of happy times and easygoing – cue explosions, abductions and weird stuff happening in the desert.
Netflix has now revealed that the show will return in summer 2022, and, thanks to this being declared Stranger Things Day, has offered a sneak peek at the titles for the fourth run of episodes.