We're even closer now than ever before to the return of Stranger Things Season 4, with the long-awaited premiere of the hit Netflix series finally set to drop on May 27. The upcoming fourth season, which will actually be split into two parts (the second of which will be released on July 1), takes place after the Battle at Starcourt Mall, which resulted in a fracturing within our main group in Hawkins, including a finale that saw the fate of chief of police Jim Hopper (David Harbour) left entirely up in the air, as well the Byers family (including Winona Ryder's Joyce, Charlie Heaton's Jonathan, and Noah Schnapp's Will) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) deciding to move away from town once and for all. Six months later, Season 4 picks up where the story left off, as those friends left behind — including Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), Robin (Maya Hawke), and more try to navigate the hellish hallways of high school. But that's not the only threat in store — because a new evil is lurking in Hawkins, one that arrives in tandem with a new mystery that, if solved, could finally eliminate the threat of the Upside Down once and for all.
Back in June 2021, Collider had the opportunity to participate in a virtual visit to the set of Stranger Things Season 4, as well as get a personalized tour from some of the show's production team and speak to select cast about what's in store for their characters when the series returns this May. In a group roundtable interview with Brown and Wolfhard, which you can read below, the co-stars spoke about how the season will further explore Eleven's backstory, how the relationship between Joyce and Eleven evolves, what the big split-up at the end of Season 3 does to the core group, and how Mike and Eleven deal with their long-distance romance. They also spoke about how Season 4 is the darkest season of the show yet, which season was scariest for them on a personal level, why Mike finds himself joining the Hellfire Club, and more.
QUESTION: We got to watch a couple [of] featurettes and one of them talked a little bit about how Eleven and Joyce are going to... Their relationship is going to evolve and Eleven is going to really look up to Joyce. So can you tell us a little bit about how that dynamic is going to evolve?
MILLIE BOBBY BROWN: As you know, she moves away with Joyce, Jonathan, and Will, and naturally when a woman is in your life, you're inspired by her, especially a mother figure. That's something that Eleven hasn't had yet. So naturally, you're going to see that relationship take its natural progression for sure.
QUESTION: Throughout the show, we've had this core group of friends and now for the first time, they're totally split up. What was it like to approach this?
FINN WOLFHARD: Well, I don't know. It's weird. I think we all kind of every season are split up no matter what. We're only really all together in a few scenes at the very end of the season. I think also just this year, with the schedule that we had last year, where we were going and then all of a sudden this pandemic hit, we had to stop. So, I don't know. It's been weird. Millie's been filming a lot more than I have. I've been in and out, but I'm going to start again. It's been different for sure, but it's also been cool to give the other characters breathing room and stuff like that.
BROWN: Like Finn said, I think it's always been like we've split up. The first season is the only season that we've had almost every scene together as the kids' group, and it's always hard because we've grown up together. So you always want to see your characters merge storylines so that we can have scenes together, but obviously, Stranger Things is Stranger Things and the best thing ever is when you split us up. We all go on our own character journeys in order to find ourselves. But also Stranger Things isn't Stranger Things without us all together and having that united front against the evil. So you see that, and you also see us as a united team this season.
QUESTION: The Duffers teased that this season is a lot darker than what we've previously seen. I'm curious [about] your thoughts about how it is darker in your eyes.
WOLFHARD: I think inherently, it becomes darker every season. It also becomes different genre — not genre, but I mean, it gets everything. It gets funnier, it gets scarier, it gets more dramatic. And I think that just comes with all of us growing up and getting older. We're not all going to be in mop-top wigs when we're like 40-years-old, screaming about Demogorgons and stuff. I think this is a very good example of the Duffers really treating our characters like their ages. I like to compare it to Harry Potter. As those movies went on the darker they went and that's where we're at now. It's a perfect progression, in my opinion.
QUESTION: Millie, we see in the teaser trailer there looks like you're going back to where you were when you were younger, you're in the facility. Can you talk about that transition, though? Because your character has evolved so much over the years, but you're going back to your roots. I'm not sure how much you can say about that. I was just curious about that aspect of your story.
BROWN: Well, that aspect of my story I can't talk about because it's so pivotal. But what I can touch on is when I was 10 years old in Season 1, those scenes were extremely difficult for me, but that storyline of her as a young child wasn't covered. There were still so many questions from me and from the viewers. I know that the Duffer Brothers do so well in covering the background of each character, and of course, you get to see that this season.
QUESTION: For both of you, which season for you personally was the scariest season, and is Season 4 the answer to that question?
WOLFHARD: Yeah. I would definitely say [Season] 4 is the scariest and the darkest, easily. I will say, I won't give any spoilers, people will know this, but I share a lot of scenes with Eduardo Franco who's a brilliant comedic actor. So I would say this season, I have the more comedic side of the storyline, the more playful side. But reading the scripts and being like, "Oh da, da, da, our stuff, fun, fun stuff," and then I just look, and I'm like, "This is the craziest thing that..." I mean, it is the craziest thing that the Duffers have like... I feel like if they could have gone darker the first season, they would've. But I think because they had to prove themselves, they had to... I think Season 1 is incredible. I think it's so amazing. But I think the Duffers love dark. They love horror stuff. They love evil, dead stuff, and I think they had to prove themselves and have all audiences be able to watch it and not be too safe.
This season still is safe — not in a bad way safe, in the way of everyone can watch it. That's still the case now, but they've done it in a way that's so brilliant where they can just twist it up a notch every season. So no one really notices it until you watch it, really. So I definitely think this season is by far. We say it every year, too.
BROWN: I know, we do say it every year.
WOLFHARD: We do. No. It is. Because then people will start to think that we're —
BROWN: We're lying.
WOLFHARD: Yeah. We're lying. And people are shoving talking points [down] our throats. Like last season was the darkest season up till then. It always is constantly moving and breathing. That's what's so weird and awesome about our show is that it just constantly is breathing and changing. Like its own monster.
BROWN: It is kind of, yeah. I agree. I also think that just touching on what Finn said, it's very hard to me. I'm reading the script and I see Finn and some of the other characters having such a fun time, and you get to see Eleven in the darkest state she's ever been. This has definitely been the hardest season I've ever filmed, and there have been some of the scariest things that I've ever seen as a human, which you guys will get to see for sure. I'll get to tell more stories and touch on my experiences as a person filming on the set with these legitimate scary things.
QUESTION: In Season 3, Dungeons and Dragons seem to be the furthest thing from Mike's mind. But now he's part of the Hellfire Club. So why the change?
WOLFHARD: Because it's a little... I don't know. It comes from a thing of growing. When you have something that's so deep embedded in your mind, something like with Mike and D&D, and it's such one thing, it just becomes something else just by you growing. So I think he learns that he actually can be a little rebellious when it comes to D&D. To be honest, Mike is kind of a total nerd and totally socially inept, so I feel like it could have been anything. Hellfire Club is a dark D&D club of just all the outcasts and rejects basically playing D&D and I think it's good because he's found his little calling at school. He has something, finally. So yeah, I think it's different. I think there's an implied darkness to it. That makes him feel pretty cool.
QUESTION: Now, Mike and Eleven have had their ups and downs in their relationship, obviously. But this is a massive challenge. It's not like these guys have Snapchat to talk to each other and keep in touch. How is this move? How is this distance going to impact that relationship in Season 4?
WOLFHARD: Well, it's one of those things that it just, it's impossible. And it's with anyone. It's with having a mom or a dad or anyone. They're there. It's like air or anything. It's just like they're a part of your life. You can't just pretend it never happened. There's an effort there that Mike and Eleven, because they're so in love, and they love each other so much, and they've gone through so much together that it's like... Also, in an incredible way and also a pretty deeply sad way because they haven't had anyone else to like... That's what's so beautiful about [it]. It's that they don't have [a] normal life and this is the way that it is for them and that's what makes it so special. But it's like super... I can't imagine long-distance in the '80s. I could not imagine.
BROWN: I think it was like, "See you when I see you."
WOLFHARD: Yeah, it must have been... Exactly. "Here's a bracelet." Yeah. Exactly. This is a different thing, and they're bonded, so yeah. I think they're pretty indebted to each other.
BROWN: Yeah. It's like they're married and there's no option of divorce. So it's like, it's inevitable. They'll always be together. And you get to see some real relationship issues that they both have to face this season, which I think is really funny, and it's very comedic, but it's also very real and it's very —
WOLFHARD: Yeah. Absolutely. And tender. Yeah. It'll be great.
QUESTION: Obviously you guys have to face these huge supernatural dangers, but then there's also a lot of this interpersonal relationship stuff. How do you find that balance, and what do you get more satisfaction out of doing?
WOLFHARD: I would say I have more fun... I don't know, both are really fun. Are you saying as an actor? Because I feel like balance-wise, that's a question for the Duffers because they know how to write the balance between scary things happening in interpersonal relationships and stuff. I have more fun doing the interpersonal relationship stuff because you could relate a little more to the characters. We've all had a weird conversation with someone that you love a lot, but not everyone has almost died from a Demogorgon and being in different dimensions and stuff. So I feel like it's easier, and it can be better as an actor to do the more personal stuff.
BROWN: I completely agree, Finn. I think I get more satisfaction out of doing the things that are harder for me. So if you tell me to cry for 10 and a half hours, I could probably do it. But the stuff that is challenging for me is actually the comedy side and the more of the real side.
FINN: Last season, I think back to when we were in the grocery store, and we were in the thing, and I'm like trying to explain what love is. To me, that's the most fun thing to do for the show.
BROWN: And I think that that's always been a struggle for me as an actor is doing that up with Finn because we've grown up together. We've done this together for nearly seven years, and it almost is like a relationship that we always come back to after however long of filming, and we're like, "Okay, this is where the characters are now, and we can grow and do the scenes together and we usually improv a lot too with those types of stuff." It's been really nice doing it with the same person for that—
WOLFHARD: It's much more comfortable. It would suck if it was like a soap, and we were constantly changing girlfriends and boyfriends.
Part 1 of Stranger Things Season 4 premieres May 27 on Netflix.