Stranger Things has certainly had its share of horrifying moments in the Netflix show’s first three seasons, but series star Gaten Matarazzo says season 4 will be the scariest one yet. From the start of the series in 2016, Matarazzo has played fan favorite character Dustin Henderson, one of the four lead boys at the heart of the story. He’ll be back with the others when Stranger Things finally returns with new episodes, and it sounds like the show will also be more frightening than before.
“Yikes,” Gaten Matarazzo told Us Weekly this month when asked about season 4. “I think most would probably say it’s the scariest [season] out of the previous three, which I love because it’s very fun to film.”
Although the cast is hard at work shooting some of the darkest material they’ve made yet, Matarazzo also explains that the actors are doing their best to keep a “happy, energetic” atmosphere on set, though that seems pretty easy for them to do.
“We don’t have to try too hard. We like each other, which is always a plus,” Matarazzo joked. “As well as having a lot of the heavy, dark stuff in the show, it’s surrounded by a lot of lightheartedness [and] a good amount of comedy. … We usually have a fun time on set.”
Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, Stranger Things is set in the ’80s and filled with references to the decade’s pop culture icons. It begins with a group of boys searching for their missing friend with supernatural events surrounding the town of Hawkins, Indiana. Along with Matarazzo, the series also stars Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, and David Harbour.
At the end of the show’s third season, viewers were left with a cliffhanger leaving the fate of police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) unknown. Netflix has since released a teaser trailer for the fourth season, revealing that Hopper is alive and apparently imprisoned in Russia. At the time, the Duffer brothers addressed the revelation while teasing what’s to come in season 4.
“We’re excited to officially confirm that production on ‘Stranger Things 4’ is now underway – and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper,” the Duffers said last February. “Although it’s not all good news for our ‘American’; he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human…and other. Meanwhile, back in the states, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long buried, something that connects everything…”
With Hopper’s return confirmed, albeit with several new questions, Matarazzo also addressed how this wasn’t exactly a surprise for himself or his castmates. The 18-year-old actor tells Us Weekly, “I guess most of the cast had a pretty good idea that he might be making a return, but they weren’t too sure about it from the beginning. By the time we had gotten to the table read [and] we had all started reading together, it had been pretty clear. But it was great to have it confirmed when we saw David there.”
It’s still not clear when Stranger Things season 4 will arrive, but let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. This news comes to us from Us Weekly.