One summer can change everything.
Netflix has finally dropped the first trailer for the long-awaited third season of Stranger Things, the popular science fiction horror series created, written and directed by the Duffer Brothers.
The two-minute, 45-second trailer brings everyone's favorite Hawkins, Indiana gang into the summer of 1985, with adolesence and the new Starcourt Mall causing all sorts of changes. The trailer opens with Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) playing "Home Sweet Home" by Mötley Crüe on his boom box after returning home from summer camp. "At least someone's glad I'm home," he laments to his pet turtle.
All of the sudden, several of Dustin's robot and army tank toys come to life and start heading into the living room. Arming himself with a hairspray can, he cautiously follows them, reassuring himself, "This is just a dream, you're dreaming."
We see his friends hiding nearby, with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) revealed as the one telekinetically moving Dustin's toys. At the urging of Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Eleven abruptly stops controlling the toys, focusing Dustin's attention away from Mike, Eleven and the rest of the gang sneaking up right behind him with a "Welcome Home, Dustin!" sign and party blowers. As the gang blows the horns in surprise, however, Dustin freaks the hell out and screams, spraying Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) directly in the face.
We then hear The Who's "Baba O'Riley" playing as we see the gang raising some sort of homemade antenna in an open field, followed by Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and her boyfriend Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) dressed in more formal attire and waiting outside some sort of office. Next, the constantly shirtless Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) is shown walking around a public pool, presumably as the pool's lifeguard.
"We're not kids anymore," Mike says to someone in a voiceover, referring to the gang growing older and going through changes. "I mean, what did you think? We're just gonna sit in my basement all day, play games for the rest of our lives?"
We see Eleven and Billy's stepsister Maxine "Max" Mayfield (Sadie Sink) hanging out in Eleven's bedroom, now apparently close friends. This is followed by Dustin watching his closest friend Lucas growing closer with Max, leaving Dustin feeling more alone than ever. Mike's brother, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), is shown having just come out of the rain and looking sadly at a picture of him, Mike, Dustin and Lucas in their Ghostbusters costumes from Season 2.
We see Max taking Eleven to the new Starcourt Mall, where Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) now works at the Scoops Ahoy ice cream place along with a new character named Robin (Maya Hawke).
"It is important to me that you feel safe," remarks Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) to Mike and Will's mom, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder). "I want you to feel like this can still be your home."
Next, we glimpse Billy in the shower, staring down at his left arm, which appears infected with something nasty probably connected to the Upside Down. This is followed by Dustin crawling through an air duct, Mayor Kline (Cary Elwes) wishing everyone a happy Fourth of July, a swarm of rats, Eleven sitting blindfolded by an American flag bandana in front of the Eggo waffle section at a grocery store, Eleven and Max dressed in heavily '80s clothes for some sort of Glamour Shots photo, and a beaten-up Steve being injected in his neck with something painful.
We're then introduced to a new, horrific creature from the Upside Down that looks like a hybrid of the Demogorgon from Season 1 and some sort of scorpion/spider.
In the final scene, we see Steve and Dustin at Scoops Ahoy, having fun and battling one another in a mock lightsaber fight until Dustin pretends to stab Steve right through the chest. As the two laugh, Robin watches them and dryly asks Steve, "How many children are you friends with?" Steve, unable to respond, gestures at Robin and looks to Dustin for sympathy.
If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Netflix account on YouTube...
Stranger Things returns to Netflix for Season 3 on July 4, 2019.