‘Stranger Things 3’ Release Date For 2018: Seasons 4, 5, 6 Ending In New Town? Max, Billy Cast Interview

The Stranger Things 3 release date will definitely be an event worth marking on the calendar if Matt and Ross Duffer has anything to say on the matter. The brothers are already talking about ideas for the ending of the story for the Stranger Things cast. They are also turning the traditional format of TV shows “upside down” using the freedom provided by Netflix.

First off, some fans may wonder why this article is referring to Stranger Things 3 rather than the more conventional TV title Stranger Things Season 3. In an interview with Vulture, Ross explained that they purposefully do not want to refer to seasons, instead preferring the feel of a movie sequel.

“If you have a successful movie, No.?2 is always a little bit bigger,” Ross said.

In the future, Netflix’s Stranger Things will still be divided up into conventional episodes, or chapters, but the plot is otherwise set up as a serialized story that’s intended to feel like a long movie. Some reviews of Stranger Things 2 did not like this approach to the nine chapters, with EW “pointing out that no classic ’80s movie… ran over two hours. No one will complain if Stranger Things 3 rips off the concept of brevity.”

Most early reviews of Stranger Things 2 have been positive, but some reviewers believe the main issue with the movie sequel format is that the pacing is a bit off. Julia Alexander of Polygon claims the fact that the second season modeled after a movie sequel “acts like a double-edged sword.” She believes some of the stories should have been contained within a single episode instead of dragging out across all nine episodes, while other storylines needed “more room to grow [and] fester in the show’s underbelly.” Daniel Fienberg of the Hollywood Reporter disagrees, claiming that the sequel expanded the ’80s themed mythology “without the bloat that inevitably dooms sequels.”

Stranger Things 2 Story And New Cast Members Max And Billy

Warning: The following contains minor spoilers.

Set in 1984, fan favorite Stranger Things character Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is back, but the sequel largely focuses on Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) after he’s rescued from the Demogorgon. After returning to Earth, Will is haunted by visions of the Upside Down and his mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) is very worried (again). Police Chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) is investigating disturbances around the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.

This time around there are more creatures than the Demogorgon. There are monsters haunting the caverns and corridors, but it’s the huge shadow monster with tentacles that will lurk in your nightmares (unless you’re a masochistic anime fan who’s into that type of thing).

Besides Lovecraftian monsters, there are new characters introduced into the cast. Tomboy skateboarder Max (Sadie Sink) has just moved from California and she befriends Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will. The friendship quickly evolves into a love triangle and the young actress has talked about kissing her co-star.

“Not everybody has their first kiss in front of 200 extras and their mom. That’s the part about it that sucked,” Sink said, according to USA Today. “Because the camera was circling us, we had to do it like 10 or 12 times. After a while, it was like, ‘Alright, OK, we get it.'”

Max’s older brother Billy is played by Dacre Montgomery and the actor is already teasing everyone about his character’s fate in Stranger Things 3.

“I can’t speak for anybody else, because of this big cliffhanger for Billy, there were a lot of discussions about a continuation and a past,” Montgomery said, according to Pop Sugar. “A past and a future for Billy. Like, where he’s come from came later in the game, and then, where he’s going became a discussion near the end of filming, for sure.”

While all this is happening, Eleven is pulling herself together in a cabin in the woods, which is a setup for horror in any other movie. Eventually, she sets off on a mission to uncover the secrets behind her origin and the government research facility.

Beyond Stranger Things Copies The Talking Dead In A New Way

Once fans have finished binge-watching the second season, they can turn to a new Netflix feature called Beyond Stranger Things. It’s an aftershow TV feature hosted by Jim Rash that provides extra content and interviews similarly to how The Talking Dead works for The Walking Dead. But these types of aftershow features are usually set up for audiences that watch a season a week at a time, not all at once, so it will be interesting how Beyond Stranger Things strays from the standard formula.

Stranger Things 3 And 4‘s Story To Have Time Gaps

The streaming giant is certainly looking ahead to the future, and for 2018 they heavily invested into Netflix Originals to the tune of $8 billion. According to THR, the main cast is signed up for six years, which means they’re contractually obligated to do up to Stranger Things 6 assuming Netflix continues to release the series on an annual basis.

When Netflix began planning out Stranger Things 3, the service discussed the idea of shooting the season back-to-back with Stranger Things 4. They were hoping to avoid any “potentially awkward adolescent transitions for its young actors.”

“Every time you have a show that relies so heavily on the charm of kids, you want to capture that,” explained the THR source.

That plan probably would have meant the third season would have come out in early 2018. However, the Duffer brothers and executive producers Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen shot down that idea, claiming it was impossible to produce the new seasons that quickly. Instead, the plan is to have the story for Stranger Things 3, 4, and beyond to feel true to the natural age of the young child stars.

“We just have to keep adjusting the story,” says Matt Duffer. “Though I don’t know if we can justify something bad happening to them once a year.”

The first season was set in 1983, and the second season in 1984. Assuming no annual delays, it seems reasonable to predict that Stranger Things 3 and Season 4 will be set in 1985 and 1986, respectively. Besides Back to the Future and The Goonies, 1985 was the year for fan favorites like The Breakfast Club and Teen Wolf. That’s plenty of material for references, never mind if the show gets political by mentioning former President Ronald Reagan.

The year 1985 was also when Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare on Elm Street was introduced. This is just speculation, but could the Duffer brothers plan on taking audiences on a mind trip?

When it comes to details, the cast is apparently wandering in the dark themselves. Natalia Dyer, who plays the 17-year-old Nancy Wheeler in the second act, has heard rumblings about Stranger Things 3, but she admits even the producers are uncertain.

“Yeah, we do discuss things. As far as future seasons, I think they have a lot on their plate, and at times I’m sure it’s like they don’t even know,” she admitted. “They’re also very cheeky, even with us sometimes… Like, ‘You might do this, or you might do this.'”

While the brothers have not hinted at exact story details for Stranger Things 3, they do know they’re going to be changing up things majorly in 2018.

Stranger Things 4 Ending The Story In A New Town? Or Will Netflix Release A Season 5 And 6?

Stranger Things 3 is very likely to have a change in filming location. When talking about their plans for the third season, the Duffer brothers say the story will probably move away from Hawkins.

“They’re going to have to get the f**k out of this town!” said Ross. “It’s ridiculous!”

Ross also initially said they were “thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out.” They stated their belief that Stranger Things 4 is the ending back in August of 2017, but a month later executive producer Levy was already issuing a correction because of fans’ dismayed reaction.

“Hearts were heard breaking in Netflix headquarters when the Brothers made four seasons sound like an official end, and I was suddenly getting phone calls from our actors’ agents,” Levy told EW. “The truth is we’re definitely going four seasons and there’s very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes I think very unlikely.”

Ross now believes that after the second season there’s still too much “danger out there” to “deal with” in just Stranger Things 3. That means a fourth season is a necessity, but the story will eventually reach a point where they’re unable to sustain a believable narrative.

“I think there’s going to come a point where why aren’t these people leaving Hawkins?” Ross said. “Like we’re going to stretch credibility. It wasn’t intended to be a seven-season thing.”

That’s not to say that Stranger Things 6 is definitely the ending. Matt clarified the brothers’ earlier statement by talking about a dinner meeting they had with Netflix executives. After the success of the first season, the brothers told Netflix they “don’t want this going on that long.” However, Matt was not willing to pin down the ending, saying, “It’s stupid to put an end date on it right now because we don’t know.”

When Is The Stranger Things Season 3 Release Date?

As of this publishing, neither Netflix nor the Duffer brothers have announced anything official about the Stranger Things Season 3 release date, although this article will be updated as soon as the Netflix sequel’s premiere is confirmed. However, there can be reasonable speculation about when the Stranger Things 3 air date may occur.

The first part originally released in July of 2016 and the second act was scheduled for October 27, 2017. That’s set perfectly before Halloween, so it would seem to make sense for the Stranger Things 3 release to follow suit.

The Duffer brothers have already hinted that an annual release schedule may be pushing it. However, they can’t wait too long or the main cast will grow up quickly. If Stranger Things Season 3 skips 2018, then the third season is likely to come out in the first half of 2019. Stay tuned!

[Featured Image by Stranger Things 2/Netflix]