Oh, you thought those new episodes were the last of Stranger Things for the summer? Guess again. Netflix is doubling down on their soon-to-be biggest—wasn’t that Bridgerton? Or Squid Game?—TV show yet with more episodes on the way.
If you’ve finished those endlessly long episodes of Season 4, there’s already a teaser waiting for you. If you’re still pushing towards the end, better hurry up! The internet is going to spoil the whole fourth season for you if you don’t get your streaming game into gear.
As a part of Netflix’s ongoing Geeked Week, the Duffer Brothers chatted about Season 4 of Stranger Things and went on to debut a monstrous sneak peek at the upcoming episodes heading to Netflix later this summer. It all happens at once, a flurry of shots of Hopper (David Harbour), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and a handful of demons.
“It is over, Eleven,” Vecna’s (an actor we won’t spoil in case you’re the one person who hasn’t watched the series) eerie voice echoes over a series of horrifying clips. “You have freed me. You can’t stop this now.”
The second batch of episodes will be heading to Netflix in just a few weeks, but there’s not a ton we’re waiting on. Volume 2 will consist of two episodes titled “Papa” and “The Piggyback.” The finale comes in at a whopping two hours and 19 minutes. That’s longer than Top Gun: Maverick!
Further, this finale isn’t the end of Stranger Things as we know it. Netflix has already announced a fifth and final (yes, this is actually the end—minus any spinoffs, games, comics, etc.) season coming in, well, who knows how long. And although the kids are going to have to stop fighting monsters and begin battling the IRS, the Duffer Brothers have already addressed their (ever-growing) age.
“The kids are now not kids anymore. They’re in high school. Suddenly that opened up a lot of doors for us. We can put them in danger that is really scary,” creator Ross Duffer explained, per Deadline. “A lot of horror comes from humans in the story, the darkness in all of us.”
No one from the Stranger Things team, nor Netflix, has expanded on the decision to release Season 4 in two groups of episodes, which has never happened for any other seasons of the TV show. Fans of the show have been outspoken about wanting a weekly release—this would cut down on the number of binge watching hours, expand the discussion on social media, and allow for more intrigue as the series rolls out—but Netflix is holding firm to their ways. It’s all or nothing.
Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2 will debut on Netflix on July 1.
