Stranger Things 4 Photo Reveals New Look at the Upside Down After Filming Restarts

After months of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, the fourth season of Stranger Things has finally resumed production, as confirmed by the series’ official Twitter account. Making the reveal more exciting is that the tweet included an image from the set, with the account teasing it as a look at the “Upside Down.” However, this was merely just a coy reference to tip fans off to production starting, as the photo doesn’t resemble the Upside Down, and instead looks like the device that initially made audiences think that David Harbour’s Chief Hopper had been killed last season. Season Four of Stranger Things will likely premiere sometime in 2021.

The account’s tweet reads, “Meanwhile in the upside down…” with an image of the filming slate, leaving the background out of focus.

This news will surely excite fans, as production initially started earlier this year, only for production to have to shut down after a few weeks due to the pandemic. Luckily, we were given a teaser earlier this year that confirmed that Hopper was alive and well, but that he had somehow ended up in Russia after the near-fatal accident in the Season Three finale.

For months, Harbour played coy about if his character could return, only to recently reveal that he has known this whole time what the plan for his character would be, yet he wanted to play into fan speculation.

“I knew. We knew. We had talked about it,” Harbour shared with Total Film regarding his character’s return. “I just wanted to preserve the fantasy for everyone. And it’s such a weird position that we’re in now with so much media, that everybody wants to talk to you about it.”

He added, “I’m very close to [creators] the Duffer brothers, and I know where the story’s going, and I’ve known from the get-go. And I think that’s been the great thing about this story. In terms of Stranger Things, you’ll be able to look back at Season One and see a lot of things that happen further down the line that relate to that.”

The actor also noted that, in addition to being transported to a new location, his character will have evolved since we last saw him.

“I’ve had those discussions with them from the very first season,” the actor explained. “We were always interested in that idea of the Gandalf resurrection – Gandalf the Grey who fights the Balrog and then becomes Gandalf the White. It’s the idea of the resurrection of the character. And mythologically, Hopper, in a sense, had to change. I mean, you couldn’t go on the way he was going on. He has to resurrect in some way. So it was a great opportunity to do that. So we’ll see a very different guy going forwards. The same guy but in a different vein. It’s a very cool thing to be able to play.”

Stay tuned for details on Stranger Things Season Four.

Are you looking forward to the new season? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!