Comparing your TV series to one of the most talked-about productions of all time might sound great, but there's a lot of pressure in doing so. Plus, we don't want any 'GOT' season eight parallels, please.
'Stranger Things' season four is the big Netflix release next month, arriving nearly three years after our last visit to Hawkins, Indiana. With anticipation high, joint creators The Duffer Brothers (Matt and Ross) teased what's to come in the next instalment in the sprawling sci-fi.
According to the duo, who appeared at Deadline’s Contenders Television panel alongside Winona Ryder, who plays fan-favourite Joyce Byers in the series, the upcoming release will be different from anything we've seen yet.
Comparing it to HBO's 'GOT', Matt Duffer said: "We kind of jokingly call it our 'Game Of Thrones' season because it’s so spread out, so I think that’s what’s unique or most unique about the season."
But he didn't stop there with the comparisons to other major pop culture entities. Aiming to dip into one of the most beloved '80s movie, he continued: "Joyce and Byers family to have left at the end of season three. They are in California – we’ve always wanted to have that like 'E.T'.-esque suburb aesthetic, which we finally got to do this year in the desert; and then we have Hopper in Russia; and then of course we have a group remaining in Hawkins. So we have these three storylines, are all connected and kind of interwoven together, but it’s just very different tones."
Ross Duffer said that this season "we really wanted to start giving the audience some answers". This means we'll likely delve further into Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) troubled childhood, and also potentially get to the bottom of The Upside Down. It seems this could be on the agenda for Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce in arctic Russia.
Matt also teased that none of this season's episodes clock in under an hour: "This season, they’re very long, so I think it’s almost double the length of any season. So that’s one reason it’s taken so long. It does have this sort of epic quality to it. It’s a different feel, for sure."
The Duffer Brothers tease three separate yet interwoven storylines, but the poster for the series features four plots. It looks like Eleven will be venturing out on her own once again.
The official synopsis of 'Stranger Things' season four is as follows:
It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn't made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.
Season four on Netflix will be split into two parts: volume one begins streaming on May 22, followed by volume two on July 1.
