3 Theories About the Clocks in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 Teasers That Are Crazy Enough to Be True
With Stranger Things Season 4’s premiere getting closer every day, many fans have noticed all of the clock imagery seen in the teasers and promotional images. The Netflix series has such a rabid fan base, it’s no surprise that there are ideas about what all this could mean. Here are three of the theories we think are a possibility for the upcoming season.
The grandfather clock is a hint that ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 will premiere on New Years Day, 2022
Executive producer Shawn Levy has remained pretty coy about a specific release date for Stranger Things Season 4. As of now, all we know is that the show will debut at some point in 2022. It’s unusual to not get a specific date because this typically generates excitement for the upcoming season.
However, Levy and creators Ross and Matt Duffer have been known to hide Easter eggs for fans to discover. In the teaser trailer released on Aug. 6, 2021, there were only brief flashes of scenes from season 4. There’s a shot of a grandfather clock shown for almost half of a beat longer, though. The clock is getting ready to strike 12 o’clock. Whether it’s midnight or noon, it isn’t clear. Some fans believe this might hint at a New Years Day release.
In addition to the position of the hands on the clock, the accompanying tweet that went out with the teaser used a different font for two of the letter Is in the message. The entire tweet was written upside down, but why a different font for just those two letters? Some believe this is another hint at a date, and the Is are teasing at a 1/1/2022 release date.
The clocks might allude to time travel
There were several subtle (and a few not-so-subtle) references to the 1985 time travel flick Back to the Future in Stranger Things Season 3. In the very first episode, we see Jonathan and Nancy bolting out of bed because they’re late for work, similar to Marty McFly’s realization that he’s late for school. Jonathan even trips, putting on his pants the same way Marty does. Plus, while the Huey Lewis and the News song we hear might not be the one we hear in Back to the Future, the use of the group’s music is an homage to the soundtrack from the movie.
Many have wondered how showrunners will handle the stars’ ages in Stranger Things Season 4, and time travel might be the plot device they use. Actors Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, and the rest aged faster than their characters due to filming delays caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. If the show features a time-jump or time-travel, it could solve the issue without using CGI de-aging techniques other films and series have used in the past.
The grandfather clock is a portal to the Upside Down
In the Stranger Things Season 4 teaser trailer released at Netflix’s global fan event TUDUM, audiences learn a bit about the Creel family. Victor Creel is a new character for the upcoming season and will be played by Robert Englund. In a mini-clip released on Twitter, fans saw microfiche images of old newspapers featuring the story of the Creel family murder. We know that Victor Creel is currently committed to a psychiatric ward for murdering his family, but the headlines in the newspapers mention a “vengeful demon.” What if Victor isn’t guilty and the “vengeful demon” is actually a monster from the Upside Down?
Of course, that would require a gate to the Upside Down for the monster to access the Creel family home. Some believe that the grandfather clock featured so prominently in the newest teaser trailer is a portal to the monstrous world we first learned about in Stranger Things Season 1.
As for now, these are only theories, but we have to admit they’re not bad. We won’t know anything until we watch Stranger Things Season 4. In the meantime, you can catch all episodes of the first three seasons on Netflix.
