With the third season of Stranger Things, the 80s set series really cemented its place and time by bringing in Russian assets. Set at the height of the Cold War, and with the Russians operating in Hawkins for the entire season, it’s a pairing that only makes sense, especially with the post-credit scene set in Russia itself. Part of the USSR’s plan in the season was to open The Upside Down in the town, but to what end remains to be seen, until now.
As pieced together by Screen Rant, the events of Dark Horse’s latest Stranger Things comic mini-series based on the TV series may allude to the bigger picture. In the pages of Stranger Things: SIX, the titular character is revealed as another test subject from Hawkins Lab. One sequence sees her speaking candidly with Matthew Modine’s Dr. Brenner where he reveals that the Hawkins Lab, where (reminder) tests are being conducted on children with superpowers, is not the only facility of its kind in the world, alluding to a larger conflict that could be brewing.
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It’s unclear if Brenner is referring to simply “The Cold War” when he says “War,” or if he in fact means a combative encounter between psychic kids in American and Russian army fatigues, but the stage has certainly been set for the later. Perhaps this will all become clear when season four of the series debuts on Netflix, but that may not be for some time.
We do know that season 4 of Stranger Things is on track to film some sequences in Lithuanian, even using the same prison set used by HBO’s Chernobyl. That in mind, and considering the post-credit scene of season three, it seems likely we’ll get some Russian answers when the show returns.
Stranger Things 4 will film under the working title Tareco with the production expected to last from January through August of this year. Like previous seasons of the series, production will take place primarily in the Atlanta area. A release date or window has not been revealed for the next batch of episodes for the hit streaming series, but with an extended production window it’s likely we won’t see the return of the kids from Hawkins until 2021 at the earliest.
The first three seasons of Stranger Things are now streaming on Netflix, stay tuned for further details on season four as we learn them!