New Stranger Things Season 3 Trailer Seems to Confirm a Major Fan Theory

The final trailer for Stranger Things‘ third season debuted tonight, giving fans a pretty in-depth look at the latest terror in Hawkins, Indiana. In the process, the new bit of footage just might have confirmed a fan theory that has been set in place in recent months.

The trailer, which you can check out above, sees the show’s core group of kids quickly learning that they might not be completely safe from the terrors of the Upside Down. As Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) suggests, there’s a chance that the Mind Flayer may have been trapped in their realm after it was exorcised from him at the end of Season 2. This would mean that the villainous monster is stuck amongst them — and searching for a new host. Right at that second, the trailer cuts to a shot of Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), who appears to be looking at something in a rather nervous manner.

As fans began to suggest with the season’s earliest trailer, there’s a chance that the latest monster that terrorizes Hawkins might actually be a mutated version of Billy. Several shots in that initial trailer – particularly, Billy finding a red and black growth on his arm, and his eyes appearing to be infected with black tendrils.

Admittedly, there’s still a chance that Billy won’t be directly tied to the season’s monster, and is instead sucked into the supernatural events of the show in another way. But as PopSugar suggested back in March, the rat imagery surrounding the new season – which was also prevalent just a few shots before Billy appeared – could play a role. The fact that rats carry disease could play a role in how Billy gets infected, especially as he’s working at the Hawkins pool for the summer.

Given the complicated way that Billy was established in Season 2, the choice to turn him into one of Season 3’s monsters would certainly be an interesting one. Billy was largely depicted as a bully and antagonist to the show’s other characters, but began to gain sympathy among some fans after it was revealed that he’s stuck in a cycle of abuse. While having him be the monster would probably get a varied response among Stranger Things‘ audience, it also would evolve his character in a pretty unexpected way.

What do you think of the latest Stranger Things trailer? Are you counting on Billy to be the series’ latest monster? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The third season of Stranger Things will debut on July 4th.