Netflix Fuels Major Strangers Things Season 4 Character Death Theory With Latest Billboard Ad

Stranger Things Season 4 will reach an epic conclusion with the final two episodes being released on Netflix this week. Strangers Things creators The Duffer Brothers have promised Season 4 ends with a tragic death – maybe several. That emotional grenade set off rampant speculation about which Strangers Things cast members may or may not live to see Season 5. At the top of a lot of fans’ lists of theories is that none other than Steve “The Hair” Harrington (Joe Keery) will be the character who dies in the final fight with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). 

Well, apparently Netflix has been keeping a close eye on the Strangers Things chat threads, but the streaming service just put up a new billboard, which plays right into fans rampant panic about Steve’s fate: 

(MILD SPOILERS) The first half of Strangers Things Season 4 unraveled the mystery of Vecna, a mind-corrupting sorcerer of the Upside Down, who brutally stalked, tormented, and murdered very troubled kids around Hawkins. The Hawkins kids eventually tracked down Vecna and found their way to the Upside Down to battle him, narrowly escaping with their lives. Unfortunately, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) didn’t make it back from the Upside Down before Vecna used his powers to possess her. 

A lot of fans have speculated that rescuing Nancy from Vecna will be one of the major catalyzing subplots of this mega-sized finale to Strangers Things 4. The theories also go so far as to speculate that in order to save Nancy somebody will have to sacrifice themselves – a sacrifice that could come down to her two suitors: Steve and Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton). Since Nancy and Jonathan have always seemed that the star-crossed lovers of the series (besides Eleven and Mike of course), fans think Steve’s unparalleled arc of redemption (from school bully and jerk boyfriend to compassionate cool-kid and “babysitter”) will end with him laying down his life to save Nancy. 

Strangers Things Season 4 has been re-kindling the heat between Nancy and Steve – maybe just to take our hopes and dash them. If that’s the case, this Netflix billboard will (in 20/20 hindsight) not even qualify as “trolling.” It will be outright “cruelty.” 

Of course, while Steve dying is a leading theory, it’s by no means the only one. Many fans think Joseph Quinn’s Eddie “The Freak” Munson will be the next Barb, with a one-and-done seasonal that ends in his sacrifice. Trailers of Eddie playing his beloved guitar on the nightmare stage of the Upside Down have hinted at a possible grand death scene; Eddie’s death would also be impactful enough (he’s a big breakout character) without disrupting the core Stranger Things ensemble cast. We could also get a straightforward twist of events, wherein Nancy does end up dying, leaving a broken Steven and Jonathan behind. 

Either way: things are going to get real when Strangers Things Season 4 – Part II arrives this week.