Here's everything we know about Stranger Things season 2 so far

Stranger Things was, without doubt, one of the biggest highlights for showbiz in 2016. With all the doom and gloom elsewhere in the world that seemed to steal its limelight, the show’s creators weren’t disheartened and, with a second season confirmed for 2017, here’s everything we know so far. 

This time around there’s going to be 9 episodes, one more than the first series. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, co-creater Ross Duffer said: “We don’t feel like we need a full 10 episodes. But it can’t quite fit in eight, so that’s how we ended up in nine.” Which sounds fairly sensible, doesn’t it? It’s also going to be set in 1984, one year after the events of the first series unfolded.

Along with the first teaser for season 2, Netflix & the Duffer Brothers also decided to release the second series’ episode titles:

MadMax, The Boy Who Came Back To Life, The Pumpkin Patch, The Palace, The Storm, The Pollywog, The Secret Cabin, The Brain & The Lost Brother.
 

It will air in 2017

The airing date has finally been announced, and to add to the spookiness of the whole thing, it’ll be dropping on October 31^st. 

Which is Halloween, for those of you who don’t know the dates of things.

M. Night Shyamalan has dropped hints at wanting to direct an episode

The horror mastermind behind the likes of this year’s Split and, previously, The Sixth Sense has expressed his interests in directing an episode. In an interview with Digital Spy, Shyamalan said: “My boys [the Duffer Brothers] who do Stranger Things, they did Wayward Pines for me… They were round my house and I was like, ‘Well, you can hire me back, guys!’”

The full cast will be returning

As far as characters go, we’re definitely going to see a few new faces although director Shawn Levy told Collider that: “we’re definitely sticking primarily with out core group.” That essentially means the return of everyone. Including ultimate badass Eleven, who is definitely alive and back.

There’s a new kid on the block, Max, who will be played by Sadie Sink (who has previously appeared in an episode of Netflix Original: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt).

Dacre Montgomery, the latest man to be cast as the upcoming Power Rangers film’s Red Ranger will also be joining this season. He’ll star as Max’s big brother, Billy, with Variety describing the character as: “a charismatic, Camaro-driving drinker, a classic girlfriend-stealing badboy.” 

Also added to the cast is Sean Astin. He’s set to make an appearance as former nerd Bob Newby, who attended high school with Joy (Winona Ryder) but now manages the Hawkins RadioShack. And given the actor first made his name back in the eighties as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, don’t expect the Amblin-themed references to let up any.

David Harbour who plays Chief Hopper has given some insight on the role Astin will play, saying to Hollywood Life “We have Sean Astin… he’s Winona’s new boyfriend… much to the chagrin to the Chief of Police.”

The fourth new cast member to be announced is Paul Reiser. He’s set to take to the screen as Dr. Owens, the series’ baddie. Working for the department of energy, he’s tasked with containing the events of 1983 when Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) was abducted by a monstrous being from another dimension.

Finally, there’s another newbie on the block with the addition of Linnea Berthelsen. The Danish actress will be taking on the role of Roman, who is somehow connected to the events in 1983. She’s not from Hawkins but she’s suffered her own losses as a kid and, therefore, ‘rather emotionally damaged’. 

They won’t give much away when it comes to the plot...

The Upside Down. That is definitely happening – it could even be possible that Will Byers himself has turned into a monster from another dimension. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Noah Schnapp, who plays Byers, said: “You’ll definitely be seeing more of me,” adding, “In the last episode, I threw up a slug, so Season 2 begins with what happens from there. There may have been some effect on him. I may or may not have turned into a monster. You’ll have to watch to find out.”

Exec Producer Dan Cohen also revealed to Yahoo that they want this series to feel like a sequel, saying: “We’ll be doing more than just a rehash of Season 1. We’re coming back with a few new characters, expanding storylines and mythologies, so it’ll feel like the stakes are raised and more is going on and really delivering on the promise and pushing for more.

“We want a sequel that feels like it’s bigger and badder and darker while answering more of the questions and getting deeper into what’s going on.”

There’s development too regarding the Steve, Nancy and Jonathan triangle. Natalia Dyer, who plays Nancy Wheeler, told Dazed Digital about the parting shot of Nancy with Steve, saying: “it was a bit of a shock… [but] as much of a shock as I think it is to the audience: I do think it makes more sense, if you think about the amount of time Nancy and Jonathan have known each other. It was the best outcome, for sure... for now.”

David Harbour AKA Chief Hopper also revealed in an interview with Hollywood Life that “It’s a year later in the story, so there are several things that happened last year, like Will has come back. There are certain people in the town that know what happened, and then certain people that don’t know what happened. So there’s a lot of fall out with who knows what.”

There’s a big new monster

The trailer gives us salivating fans a swift glimpse at a new big baddie. If you thought the Demogorgon and its flappy head was tough to beat, this new creature looks to blow it out the water. The reason for this being, well, it looks about the size of a house – it’s massive. And it’s got loads more legs.

Fan theories abound concerning this new beastie, but one that seems to be gathering the most traction is that it’s the Thessalhydra. When the kids were playing Dungeons and Dragons for the second time in season one, they fought a monster called exactly that. If you’ll recall, they also fought something called a Demogorgon; a name they subsequently gave to the first season’s main foe.

We also glimpse one of Will’s sketches of this giant spider-like monstrosity – is it all in his head, or is a humongous sky-crab actually going to smash through the roof of his house and eat everybody? The mystery continues...
 

Will’s in a spot of bother...

By the looks of things, Will, not Eleven, is the one under surveillance this time around. Some dodgy types have got him hooked up to something, presumably in an effort to uncover his secrets concerning the Upside Down. He has been hocking up inter-dimensional slugs, after all – he probably lends himself to some scientific analysis quite well.

Who it is doing the examining is unclear, however, but they’re probably not your common-or-garden GP, are they?

We know what you’re thinking: what about Barb? Well…

Who knows. Netflix want her back yet Chief Hopper actor (David Harbour) is saying the search is over and she’s dead.

However, the Duffer Brothers have promised “justice for Barb”. Saying “Barb will not be forgotten. We’ll make sure there’s some justice for Barb. People get very frustrated, understandably, that the town doesn’t seem to be really dealing with Barb.”

And what does all of this mean for Nancy? Well, Natalia Dyer has said she’s sure “a lot of people would love to see how she deals with the loss of her friend, Barb.” So, just maybe, there’s something in the works there.

How close was the world and its never-ending list of fan theories?

Closer than you think, apparently, one of you got it right. Shit the bed.

However it’s probably not the one claiming that Steve Harrington is the father of Parks & Recreation’s Jean Ralphio, but oh how we wish he was.

According to Reddit user angelfacedweirdo, there are three theories which are all strong possibilities. However, here’s our favourite: “the Demogorgon uses victims as prey AND/OR as reproductive opportunities.”

Yep. Mating. Here’s how: “Evidence: the slug crawling out of Barb’s mouth; the same slug being coughed up by Will; the monster nest in the Upside Down with multiple bodies in it found by Joyce and Hopper; the Alien-esque facehugger found on Will.”

Pretty intricate details, right? Well, angelfacedweirdo goes on to add: “I’m not sure how the monster makes the distinction between the two choices – do you eat your capture, or do you oviposit some kind of larval form in it? who knows – but it does seem to be that the monster is able to choose.”

Demogorgons just got a shit tonne scarier. The Redditor adds:

“Once it catches you, it either eats you – like the deer – or it oviposits an egg or a larvum or some other reproductive propagule in your gut via your mouth. If it decides to use you reproductively, it leaves you with a facehugger (I’m guessing Barb had one too that had gone by the time Eleven found her body) to look after its propagule for a certain time period of gestation; during this time, it probably uses your body tissues as a nutritive source. I reckon the damage wrought by the facehugger slowly digesting you from the inside out is what eventually kills you.”

Sold. Feel sick. Done with the internet. All of the above. Cheers angelfacedweirdo.