The year of 2016 was Brexit, Trump, Portugal winning Euro 2016 despite coming third in their group, something on Love Island or Great British Masterchef (I've never seen any of these shows) and Boaty McBoatface. It was also the year when Eleven, Mike, Caleb, Dustin, Will, an alcoholic bad-ass cop named Jim and Winona Ryder captured our hearts. Yes, it was the year when Stranger Things happened.
Fans of the Netflix series will be delighted to hear that the second series is on its way sooner than expected, with its release date brought forward by four whole days. What's more, the show's producers have released a teaser poster, along with a trailer for Stranger Things 2, a not-so-strange title for a second season of the hit show.
Stranger Things 2 will air on 27th October, four days earlier than its original Halloween release date. The new poster promises apocalyptic levels of frightening goings on, with the boys staring up at a red sky on their bikes, as something evil (perhaps The Monster from Season 1) looks down upon them.
Actor Finn Wolfhard, who play Mike Wheeler in the series, has said the show is set to be a lot darker in Season 2 and more "horror oriented" and "disturbing".
That promises to make for some spine-tingling action. Season 1 was spooky enough as it is, with the cross-universe events that took place in Hawkins being only marginally less terrifying than Steve Harrington's haircut, talking Christmas fairy lights and Jonathan Byers' habit of photographing people from a safe but suspicious distance in the night time.
It's believed the show's release date may have been brought forward to fall on a Friday, when lots of people watch tellybox, rather than Tuesday, when many of them play chess, do their washing, or indulge in pre mid-week drinks. It's also two months to the day after the Game of Thrones finale on rival HBO, which may have been a factor.
Set in 1984, Stranger Things Season 2 takes place the same year Ghostbusters was released (released images show the boys dressed in the iconic uniforms worn by the film's characters). It was also the year Terminator, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins and Romancing the Stone came out, so the latest series may see us injected with yet more wistful nostalgia moments, classic film references and the boys' attempts to watch films that are without a shadow of a doubt not designed for their age group.
Then again, if you have been forced to go toe-to-toe with unspeakable evil from a parallel universe, you can probably sit through Romancing the Stone. Just.
Words: Ronan O'Shea
Featured Image Credit: Stranger Things / NetflixTopics: Stranger Things, Netflix, UK, US
