An inside scoop on the new teaser trailer for “Stranger Things” and people’s predictions on what’s to come in this shocking new season.  *SPOILER WARNING*: Do not read ahead if you haven’t watched seasons 1-3 of “Stranger Things.”

To all my fellow Mouthbreathers, I think it is safe to say that “Stranger Things” has taken the world by storm.

Whether it was witnessing the beginning of it all with Will mysteriously vanishing into the Upside Down, reminiscing Mike and Eleven’s teen romance, or watching Hopper sacrifice himself to save the world from Demogorgon damnation, the show never fails to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. 

Stranger Things was originally released on Jul 15, 2016 and has gone on for three seasons, soon to be four. It is set in the fall of 1984 in Hawkins, Indiana, and the show tells a story of four best friends trying to navigate their lives with Demogorgons on the loose: Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnap), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin). 

As seasons passed and the plot thickened, new characters and a few familiar faces from other popular movies were seen as well, such as Sadie Sink, who plays Max Mayfield, Winona Ryder, who plays Joyce Byers, and David Harbour, who plays Chief Hopper. 

Fans have been anticipating a clue about what Season four will entail, after the massive conclusion to Season three. The season ended with Joyce destroying the portal into the Upside Down, which resulted in an explosion that presumably left Hopper dead. The final scenes showed that Eleven had lost her otherworldly powers after an intense battle with the Mind Flayer, and after losing the only father-like figure in her life, she moved out of Indiana with Will and Joyce.

The ending left viewers in shock, with no idea how the show would go on with the core characters all split up, and everyone’s favorite chief of police presumed dead: or so they thought.

Die-hard “Stranger Things” fans predicted that Hopper was in fact alive, after a post credits scene of the final episode of Season three referenced an American held in captivity in Russia. The new teaser trailer for the fourth season brings all those theories to fruition and answers everyone’s favorite question: Hopper is in fact alive. 

The trailer was released on all social platforms on Feb 14, 2020 with the caption “From Russia, with love,” and it sent fans into a frenzy. The video begins by showing viewers a Soviet Union base in Russia where several soldiers are seen guarding it with guns. The trailer then shows a group of men working on constructing a railroad, nothing too special. However, the very last second reveals that Hopper is being held captive by the same Russians who released the Demogorgon in the first place.

Seeing this trailer so soon, just eight months after the release of the third season, made fans even more curious to see what this season entails. How did Hopper end up in Russia? Did Eleven ever get her powers back? Are the Russians planning on opening another portal into the Upside Down? 

All of these questions and many more may be answered in the fourth season of “Stranger Things”, and fans can’t wait to see the fate of their favorite Hawkin’s residents unfold. Stranger Things four is expected to be released in early 2021, with filming beginning in February 2020.