Stranger Things season 4's newest trailer hints that the series is fixing one of the biggest issues present in season 3. The previous season sees the child cast enter a more mature age bracket, and it focuses more heavily on their personal lives and relationships. The season 4 trailer hints that the show is going back to its roots, as Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, and the other main characters all return for the new season this summer.
The Stranger Things kids start off as young children in season 1, but they quickly grow into teenagers, with their growth spurts being particularly noticeable in season 3. This season also sees Mike and Eleven develop their romantic relationship, while Eleven enjoys a close friendship with Max Mayfield. This, unfortunately, leaves Will Byers feeling excluded, as he still wants to play Dungeons and Dragons. The series also focuses less on the mystery of the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down than seasons 1 and 2, until its final episodes. It concludes as the kids and the adult cast, including Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers, team up to take on "the flayed", which transform into the vile Spider Monster.
The trailer for Stranger Things season 4 hints that the series will return to its darker roots, sidelining the teen-romance plot points that came to define season 3. The new trailer shows off a haunted house as a major setting, suggesting that the show will once again pay homage to classic horror stories by Stephen King. Though elements of King's work are present in season 3, the foreboding tone of the new trailer suggests that Stranger Things season 4 will put Eleven, Mike, and the rest of the gang through a far more horrifying trial than they endured in the last season.
Color plays a major role in the way the series cements its tone. Stranger Things Season 3 featured Starcourt Mall as its main setting, a shopping mall lit with neon colors, complimented by the bright sailor outfits worn by Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley. Season 4 seems to return to the dingier color palette of seasons 1 and 2, which are clearly influenced by Stephen King stories like The Shining, as well as films made by John Carpenter and Steven Spielberg. The haunted house in the season 4 trailer is particularly reminiscent of the Myers house from Carpenter's Halloween.
The appearance of Vecna, the new antagonist of Stranger Things season 4, also hints that the series is going in a darker direction. While season 3's villain, the Spider Monster, was frightening, it lacked much on-screen connection to the Upside Down and offered little information about the hellish world. Additionally, while the Spider Monster resembled a pint-sized Kaiju monster with no goal but to feed and grow, Vecna appears to be a more intelligent threat that could pose an immense challenge, especially now that Eleven has lost her psychic powers. As an intelligent monster, it may connect more obviously to the Mind Flayer and help explain the mysteries of the Upside Down. Overall, Stranger Things season 4 looks to be focusing more on the Upside Down and the horror-inspired elements of the previous seasons, fixing season 3's obsession with romantic relationships.
Stranger Things season 4 streams on Netflix from May 27th.