Stranger Things Season 4 Episode 1 could finally answer why Eleven’s (Millie Bobby Brown) powers are feared by Dr. Benner (Matthew Modine) and the rest at Hawkins Lab. But that’s the least of the worries for Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and the gang going by the Stranger Things 4 trailer which teased an emerging war from the Upside Down, the eerie D&D-inspired creature, Vecna is coming with its own army to wreak havoc on Hawkins town.
After three years, the Duffer Brothers helmed Stranger Things series is returning with Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1 this May. The first half of season 4’s runtime and early reactions for the upcoming episode 1 titled “Chapter One: The Hellfire Club” has fans already chatting about Stranger Things season 5. But before we get ahead to the end, here’s everything we know about the penultimate season, including the new cast members, what to expect regarding Hopper’s (David Harbour) return & more.
Stranger Things season 4 episode 1 release date
For starters, Strangers Things season 4 will release in two parts on Netflix with Vol. 1 arriving on May 27 and Vol. 2 set for July 1st. The first 8 minute of episode 1 is out and confirms exploring Eleven’s backstory. A description for Chapter One indicates addressing season 3’s aftermath as the gang reels from last year’s event but a threat also brews on Earth as well as in the Upside down.
Stranger Things season 4 cast details

Stranger Things 4 Robert Englund Victor Creel
Mike, Will (Noah Schnapp), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Max (Sadie Sink) will all reunite in Stranger Things 4. The trailer also promises Steve (Joe Keery) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer) teaming up and even journeying to the Upside down. But the promo also teases some of the 13 newcomers of Strangers Things season 4 including Robert Englund, the actor who played the iconic Freddie Krueger will play Victor Creel, a disturbed patient locked up in a psychiatric hospital for murder in the 1950s.
The term Creel should ring a bell for Stranger Things fanatics since an earlier teaser introduced a new spooky house that Dustin, Steven and Lucas and others explore called Creel House. And its connection to Upside Down makes its past murder story more frightening.
Other new additions with a potential part in Stranger Things 4 could be Amybeth McNulty’s Vickie – described as a cool band nerd who could have a romantic entanglement with one of the main characters. A number of Hawkins High students are cast in different roles, namely Grace Van Dien as Chrissy, a lead cheerleader at Hawkins High, Myles Truitt’s Patrick, a basketball star, Regina Ting Chen as Ms. Kelly serving as the school’s counselor & more. Other than Hawkins, there will be a handful of new faces when the show jumps to Russia where Hopper is presumably imprisoned. An actor named Tom Wiaschiha plays Dmitri, a Russian prison guard.

Dacre Montgomery from Stranger Things 3
Medine reprising as Martin Brenner was outright confirmed in the extended 8-minute look from Season 4 Vol. 1’s episode 1. But another actor expected to grace the screen is Dacre Montgomery’s Billy Hargrove and yes we know he’s dead. It could be a flashback sequence but with the series exploring more supernatural occurrences, there’s no telling who or what could appear in Stranger Things season 4.
Stranger Things season 4 number of episodes revealed with runtime
Stranger Things season 4 has a total of 9 episodes with the first seven releasing as Vol. 1 and the last two as Vol. 2. The title and runtime are as follows: Episode 2- Vecna’s Curse (1 hr 15 min), Episode 3 – The Monster and The Superhero (1 hr 3 min), Episode 4 – Dear Billy (1hr 17 min), Episode 5 – The Nina Project (1hr 14 min), Episode 6 – The Dive (1hr 13 min), Episode 7 – The Massacre At Hawkins Lab (1hr 38 min), Episode 8 – Papa (1hr 25 min), Episode 9 – The Piggyback (2hr 30 min).
Season 4 is officially the lengthiest out of all seasons with the Duffer brothers comparing its sheer size to feature films. “Episodes 7 and 9 are very, very long episodes,” Ross said and Matt added, “Oh, yeah. Those are full-blown movies.”, The show creators have compared season 4 to Game of Thrones for its grand scale and epicness the narrative aims to deliver.
