On February 14, the Duffer Brothers, creators of Netflix’s Stranger Things, gave fans one of the best Valentine’s Day gifts they could have ever asked for: a teaser trailer for the series’ 4th season.

Caution: Stranger Things spoilers ahead

As all Stranger Things fans know, at the end of season 3, Hopper was trapped in the same room as the machine that opens the gate to the Upside Down. The machine explodes and Hopper suddenly disappeared, leaving fans with many questions about what may have happened to him. The post credit scene in the last episode gave fans hope that Hopper survived the blast when the Russians mention “The American.”

Since the teaser trailer is set during the Cold War in 1980’s Soviet Union, fans know that Russia will play an important role in season 4. At the end of the trailer, the Duffer Brothers confirmed that Hopper is alive and working against his will in Russia. This reveal left fans wondering how he ended up there.

Hopper’s appearance in Russia isn’t the only question that remains to be answered from the Season 3 finale. Fans also witnessed Eleven losing her ability to control things with her mind. This decision by the Duffer Brothers was major plot twist because the fans are used to seeing Eleven use her powers to defeat the enemies when the kids are in trouble. If Eleven remains powerless, the characters will have to find a different approach to defeat the threats to their town, and fans may become bored with the new season. 

Another question that many fans want answered is who, or what, the enemy of Season 4 will be. The most likely candidate is the actual Mind Flayer inside the Upside Down. Fans have seen this creature many times over the first 3 seasons, but it has always been covered in stormy clouds. The characters have also never physically challenged it. Season 3 introduced viewers to a smaller version of the Mind Flayer made up of rats and humans, but it dropped to the ground as soon as the gate was closed in the finale. The actual Mind Flayer was controlling the monster from inside the Upside Down, so when the gate was closed, it was trapped. Also, to finally defeat the Mind Flayer, the characters are going to have to fight through the Russians to even get inside the Upside Down, which will be very difficult if Eleven does not gain her powers back. 

Lastly, in season 2 fans were introduced to an illusionist with a tattoo of “008.” With season 4 on the horizon, fans should be asking if there are other illusionists with the numbers 001-011? It’s a possibility that new characters with different powers will be introduced considering Eleven doesn’t have hers. If this is true, then fans will see many new characters with some pretty interesting abilities similar to heroes such as the X-Men or the Fantastic 4.

Should these predictions come true, season 4 will have the best battle viewers have ever seen on Stranger Things considering the characters would actually take the fight to the Upside Down in order to take on the actual Mind Flayer and its army of Demogorgons, Demodogs, and whatever other creatures that might be lurking around in the Upside Down.

Check out the teaser trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB2GYwbIAlM