After reality hit the world harder than a Demogorgon attack and put all production on pause, Stranger Things finally makes its epic comeback. The fourth season’s got this heat on lock as they bust out cinematic action with tons of cardio, add new characters to stan (Hello, stoner Dungeon master Eddie and surfer pizza dude Argyle), serve the most radical of ’80s ’fits, blast a fire soundtrack, and throw in more Upside Down shenanigans that will make you go, “dead friend check!”
To find out what’s really going on, we chatted with Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), and Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson) during an exclusive roundtable sesh plus heard more deets during the press con. Read on to learn some non-spoilery things that will get you pumped up for this season.
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Robin and Nancy join forces and set off on their own exciting adventure, spending their hot girl summer doing most of the research grunt work (your group project is waving!) and some sneaky, undercover tasks.
Natalia: I was very happy that Maya and I got to work together. I feel like last season it was a curiosity, like, what would that be like and then, yeah, it was very exciting and very fun.
Maya: We had a really good time together!
Maya: We’ve become friends kinda before [which helped with the dynamic].
Natalia: Yeah!
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Natalia and Maya got to work with horror legend Robert Englund of A Nightmare on Elm Street fame. (Hmmm…does that hint at something?)
Natalia: What a day! Yeah, I mean it was so cool to watch him do what he does. It’s kinda incredible. He’s such a kind person!
Maya: It came at a moment when I needed to get my feet back on the earth and my mind back to being really invested in the environment. He came in with such integrity, investment, and care. He’s [also] done such beautiful work on his monologue. I loved getting to watch him act! -
Good news: Steve is still the designated babysitter! Expect the usual awkwardly hilarious interactions with Dustin and funny wingman moments with Robin.
Joe: The relationships are kind of the core of the show so obviously that stuff continues and remains the backbone. The [Duffer] brothers, the cast that we have, everything feels very natural. It’s a very encouraging and collaborative environment. That’s really all you could ask for when working on something. Having a nice camaraderie on the set is something that I very much love looking forward to and coming back to.
Joe: [Steve and Robin] are uber supportive of each other throughout the show and that’s really fun because sometimes it feels like we’re a bickering old married couple? But then, we’re always each other’s best advocates. It’s always fun to have somebody that you’re like, “Go get ’em!”
Maya: Yeah, exactly!
Joseph: It’s one of my favorite relationships in the whole show. I think it’s so, you know, gorgeous.
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Eddie Munson is chaotic AF and Joe Keery is living for it IRL! The dude is like every ’80s stoner character rock and rolled into one with a dash of Dungeons & Dragons geekery.
Joe: Honestly, Quinn’s character [is my favorite!] We all just got the episodes and started watching and I think, collectively, everybody was very excited for the world to see Joe [Quinn]. He does a great job!
Joseph: The brilliance is establishing all of the new characters very, very quickly and getting to know them. Taking these new energies and throwing them into this already very dense broth, character broth, which is working and alive and there’s something new in there. [Eddie is] quite chaotic, kind of like cayenne pepper in the broth. [He’s] a little bit spicy, a little bit “Do I want that in there?” Divisive, I guess.
Joe (to Joseph): Yeah, you bring a fun new element!
Joseph: Thank you!
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Speaking of newbies, Maya, who jumped in during the third season, was worried whether hardcore Stranger Things stans would welcome Robin or throw her into The Upside Down.
Maya: I was really nervous about it because when you join a beloved environment–dun, dun, dun, dun Joe [Quinn]—it’s always possible that the fans are like, “We don’t like this new character! Give us more screen time with the people we already love!” And I have definitely felt that way watching shows before when they bring on a new storyline so I was really nervous about it and I’m so grateful that the reaction has been positive. -
The older Hawkins gang get a lot of action (no, not that kind) and put in even more cardio work this season.
Joe: I think we do a lot of [things] this whole season. A big part of it is action and reading it on the page, it was like, “Wow! There’s a lot for everyone to do!” Everybody has a lot of moments, specifically one I can’t mention with Natalia that left me and Maya absolutely rocked for days.
Joseph: Broadly speaking, there’s quite a lot of invisible threats that we’re running from which could get challenging. Am I allowed to say that? I’ve said it. The running and the hiding and the breathing. Those are the challenges.
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The Stranger Things crew are serving Scooby gang realness. A bunch of teenagers searching for clues and solving mysteries together? Yep, it definitely checks out!
Maya: We’re always talking about ourselves as the Scooby-Doo gang!
Natalia: Oh yeah!
Maya: Like Daphne (points at Natalia), and Velma (points at herself), Fred (points at Joe), and Shaggy (points at Joseph). Yeah, I don’t know. It's a really good Scooby-Doo gang.
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The Hawkins gang are more similar to the cast than you think! The Duffer bros actually sprinkle a little bit of the actor’s real-life personality into the character mix.
Maya: [Like Robin, I have] foot-in-mouth syndrome! I really love my character [and] I feel like there’s a lot of similarity there so I feel really lucky to portray her and it’s actually helped me learn things about myself, too.
Joe: The bros are so good with doing that! They incorporate everybody’s personality once they get to know you a little bit. They do a really good job of incorporating bits of yourself that you might not even be aware of under the character. I feel a lot of connections to my character.
Maya: They also try to maximize your strengths as an actor. They really give you the opportunity to do things that you’re good at.
Joe: Yeah, definitely. A hundred percent!
BONUS: The cultural impact of Stranger Things on the '80s resurgence
Joe: Yeah, it’s kinda unbelievable. Really, I don’t know. It’s really cool to be part of something that so many people love. Kinda, unbelievable and difficult to wrap your head around it for me.
Maya: It’s also so much our parent’s generation? Like they had different aspects of their youth and that has always been a cool familial thing, too. There are all these sentimental references to things that were really important to them as teenagers or young adults so that’s kind of a nice familiar thing.
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 is streaming right now on Netflix! So prepare to abandon all sleep because the show flexes longer hours and the spookiest storyline that will keep you up all night. Volume 2 will drop this July 2022!
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