'Stranger Things' Season 3 Will Be "Most Ambitious" Yet, Partially Inspired by John Carpenter

Stranger Things Season Two offered a much more expansive and epic look at the battle between the residents of Hawkins and the dark realm known as the Upside Down, but according to producer Shawn Levy, we haven't seen anything yet, as Season Three will be the "most ambitious" chapter of Stranger Things, and will come with some tonal influences from one of horror's greatest maestros.

Speaking with Bad TV (forgive any errors in translation), Levy informed reporters (and subsequently fans) that they "are working on the third season very quickly, and I can also tell you that it is by far the most ambitious season ever made, and I want to underline it: it is by far the most ambitious! We are on another level."

When pressed what was so "ambitious" about Season Three, Levy stated that he could reveal on details, just that the scope is much bigger this time around:

"I can not go into the specific but as you saw the second season has become more cinematic, much more based on the characters than the first and this evolution will continue with the third. It will be the season with more action than all."

Stranger Things has defined its seasons by making tonal references to great filmmakers in each season arc; so what will be the reference point for Season Three? According to Levy, "there will be very much the ghost of John Carpenter and other '80s horror directors."

That seems about right, as when we left off, Eleven and her circle of friends from Hawkins had shut down the portal that was opening between our world and the Upside Down, preventing the nightmarish creature known as the "Mind-Flayer" from invading and destroying our world. And yet, the final sequence in Season Two saw Eleven, Mike, Will and co. all enjoying a normal school dance, unaware that the Sword of Damocles is literally hanging over them, as the Mind Flayer now watches over the kids intently from the Upside Down, seemingly focused on its new discovery of Eleven's formidable psychic powers.

It's not hard to imagine that if the Mind Flayer were to possess Eleven the way it did Will in Season Two, then indeed the resulting threat would echo Carpenter films like The Thing or Halloween, with the Hawkins squad terribly unaware that the monster stalking them has infiltrated their midst. Other Season Three teases have pointed a full-on invasion storyline, with more townspeople of Hawkins having to join the fight against the Upside Down, which would definitely fit the description of "most ambitious."

Stranger Things is set to return sometime in 2019 on Netflix.