‘Stranger Things’: Who or What are Some Potential Villains for Season 4?
We’ve seen the characters fight off multiple creatures based on Dungeons and Dragons monsters in Stranger Things. In season 1, we see the Demogorgon. While season 2 had the characters battle both the Demodogs and the Thessalhydra. In season 3, they face off against the Mindflayer.
Because we now know season 4 is dropping in 2022, many of us wonder what’s next? Will the kids be going up against the Russians? A horde of monsters from the Upside Down? While no one knows for sure just yet, fans of the show have come up with some pretty exciting predictions.
Is Dr. Brenner back?
The last time we saw Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine), the evil scientist experimenting on Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), he was receiving a nice, warm hug from the Demogorgon. Of course, by “hug,” we mean he was presumably eaten alive, never to be seen again. However, if there’s one thing we know about horror movies, it’s that if the audience doesn’t see a body, we can’t rule out a comeback.
In the teaser trailer dropped by Netflix in May, we hear Brenner ask, “Eleven, are you listening?” This scene might be a flashback, as we’ve watched many flashbacks revolving around Eleven and her time in the lab. Throw in the fact that Eleven sees him in a vision, and most fans can all but guarantee Brenner has yet to shuffle off this mortal coil.
Is it another Dungeons and Dragons monster?
We’ve seen a new Dungeons and Dragons monster in every season of Stranger Things thus far, so it’s not a stretch to think we’ll see another one in the upcoming season. Which one audience members will get to watch on their television in season 4 is still a mystery.
However, Michael Walsh from the Nerdist has a compelling theory that the next monster will be similar to what Kurt Russell’s character, Macready, fought in 1982’s The Thing.
Walsh says, “That setting alone gives off major The Thing vibes. Hopper is isolated at a snowy outpost where an “alien” monster also lives. If the base is attacked by the demogorgon or Mind Flayer, both of which already have much in common with the alien shape-shifter dug out of the Antarctic snows, it would be an obvious reference to the iconic 1982 film. But the Duffer’s note implies an even stronger connection between the two. They write Hopper ‘will face dangers both human…and other’ which is exactly what MacReady had to deal with in The Thing.”
The creature in The Thing can take over its host’s body without anyone noticing. (Well, they noticed eventually but by then, it’s too late.) This is very similar to what the Mindflayer did in season 3 with the people of Hawkins.
Could there be monsters in Russia and America in ‘Stranger Things 4’?
The Duffer Brothers released a statement regarding season 4 in February 2020 when the first teaser trailer dropped. Via Indie Wire, “We’re excited to officially confirm that production on ‘Stranger Things 4’ is now underway — and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper!” the Duffer brothers wrote in a statement. “Although it’s not all good news for our ‘American;’ he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human…and other. Meanwhile, back in the states, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long buried, something that connects everything. Season 4 is shaping up to be the biggest and most frightening season yet, and we cannot wait for everyone to see more. In the meantime, pray for the American.”
Two monsters wouldn’t be too much a change from last year’s debacle. The Mindflayer was able to control Hawkins’s people, which made hiding from it that much harder.
While we don’t have too much longer to wait, there are at least a few months before the folks of Hawkins (and now Russia) are back on our screens. Until then, you can stream the first three seasons of Stranger Things on Netflix.
