Netflix has officially renewed Stranger Things for a third season. The streaming giant struck gold last year with the launch of Stranger Things. The combination of 1980s nostalgia, a great young cast, and a constantly turning and surprising story made Stranger Things a cultural phenomenon. It was no surprise then when the series was ordered for a second season, and the reaction to Stranger Things 2 (as it's officially titled) this year has been just as glowing - more so, in some ways - than the response to season 1.

Thanks to the pop culture status that the show has now attained and the way that Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have talked about the future, it was all but a given that a third season of the show would be arriving in the future. With more than a month having now passed since season 2 launched, Netflix has finally made the news about season 3 official.

Netflix officially announced that Stranger Things will be returning for a third season, via its Twitter account. The news does not come as a surprise, and so far there is no set timetable for when the new season will premiere. However, Netflix typically releases a new season of its shows every year, meaning viewers can probably expect to return Hawkins, Indiana and the Upside Down by either late 2018 or early 2019 at the earliest.

Stranger Things Season 2 cliffhanger ending Mind Flayer Upside Down Hawkins

Stranger Things season 3 will bring the show's entire main ensemble, now that Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Dacre Montgomery (Billy), and Sadie Sink (Max) are all confirmed to return. Even with an already stacked cast, season 3 will surely bring back others - like Eleven's sister Kali - and introduce new characters as well.

The Duffer brothers have already confirmed that season 3 will make a significant time jump to allow their young cast to mature, so there is sure to be a good deal of offscreen character building that happens before fans see the cast again. Other than that, any possible details on season 3 have been held tightly under wraps, but it's expected that the Mind Flayer will factor into the proceedings in a big way - building on the final shot of Stranger Things 2, where the monster was shown lurking over Hawkins Middle School, from the Upside Down.

Just like season 2, however, Stranger Things season 3 won't mark the end of the series, unless something changes drastically. The Duffers have previously said that they envision Stranger Things running for four or five seasons total, meaning there should be at least one more installment after season 3. How long the show actually runs remains to be seen, but at least everyone now knows for certain that more Stranger Things is on the way.

MORE: Stranger Things 3 Needs To Keep the Gang Together

The first two seasons of Stranger Things are currently streaming exclusively on Netflix, with season 3 now in development.

Source: Netflix