Will there be another season of Stranger Things?

Netflix stunned its fans on December 1 when it dropped a bombshell announcement about the third season of the hit sci-fi horror show.

The streaming giant tweeted: “Should we make another season of Stranger Things?

“FOR THE LOVE OF STEVE, DUH! So hold tight baby darts — season three is officially happening.”

Creators Matt and Ross Duffer packed season two with more plot than many shows cover in several years, and introduced a new big bad dubbed the Mind Flayer.

After reconnecting with her mother and meeting her sister Kali, Eleven returned to Hawkins just in time to help save the town – and the world – from the shadow monster and his demodogs.

She sealed the Gate – the portal to the Upside Down hidden under Hawkins National Laboratory – before the evil within could fully escape.

Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy managed to burn the Mind Flayer out of Will’s body, after he was possessed by the villain and became a spy.

The season ended on a happy note – with Eleven, now officially known as Jane Hopper, joining the boys and Max for a school dance.

But in the final shot the camera pivoted upside down, revealing that the Mind Flayer is still alive and out to get the kids.

The Duffer brothers have confirmed that they are already working on season three, and are planning a fourth run to finish up the story.

“We’re thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out,” Ross told Vulture.

“We just have to keep adjusting the story. Though I don't know if we can justify something bad happening to them once a year.”

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When will Stranger Things season 3 be released?

Netflix hasn’t yet confirmed when the hit series will return, but all signs point to an early 2019 release.

Stranger Things 2 arrived 15 months after the first season, and was set during Halloween 1984.

The Duffers told Vulture that they decided to set the action during the holiday after working out how long it would take them to write and film the episodes.

“I remember we just had a meeting with Netflix and we were just doing the math of how long it took to make season one and how long it would take to get season two out,” Ross explained. 

“Obviously we all wanted it as fast as possible, but we were unable to get it within a year. So what we realised is that, ‘Hey listen, but we can get it in time for Halloween’.”

With Finn Wolfhard (Mike) and Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) fast becoming Hollywood stars, we expect that season three might take even longer to film. 

Although the filmmakers could still wait for a halloween 2018 release as they did this year with season 2.

What will happen in Stranger Things season 3?

When we returned to Hawkins in season two, a year had passed since Will’s return from the Upside Down.

The time hop was necessitated in part by the young cast growing older, and the Duffers have said that there will be a similar jump between each season.

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“Even if we wanted to hop into the action faster, we couldn’t,” Matt told The Hollywood Reporter. 

“Our kids are ageing. We can only write and produce the show so fast. They're going to be almost a year older by the time we start shooting season three. It forces you to do a time jump.”

Season two continued several plot threads left open after last year’s run, including Will’s coughed-up pollywog, Eleven’s disappearance and the Nancy/Steve/Jonathan love triangle.

The Duffers have said that the next batch of episodes will start on “a very clean slate”, but hinted that the Mind Flayer will return.

“They've shut the door on the Mind Flayer, but not only is it still there in the Upside Down, it's very much aware of the kids, and particularly Eleven,” Ross told THR. 

The shadow monster looks set to become the series overarching villain, with the Duffers having previously described it as a “Voldemort”-level threat.

Much to fans' delight, Lucas' younger sister Erica will have a bigger part to play next year.

Ross told Yahoo: “We got to use more Erica — that was one of the first things we said in the writers' room."

His brother Matt added: “I love Erica. Priah Ferguso [the actress who plays her] was just a local hire we made in Atlanta. Erica wasn't even supposed to be in season two as much as she was. We fell in love with this girl.”