Stranger Things 3 Trailer: 17 Reasons to Get Excited About the New Season

It’s July 4th, 1985, and our favorite small town kids aren’t so little anymore. Over a year after we binged Stranger Things 2, the Stranger Things 3 trailer has finally arrived and the new season looks every bit worth the wait. 

The past two seasons of Stranger Things have been set during the Halloween–Christmas season, but this year we are going all out for the summer. 

The colors are brighter, the kids are getting older, there are fireworks and romance in the air, there are carnival rides and new friendships, and everyone wants to go to the mall. 

After this trailer, we are more excited than ever for Stranger Things 3. Here are 17 questions, reactions, and reasons to get excited for the latest installment in the Stranger Things universe. 

1. Max and Eleven/Jane are going to be friends

During Season 2, Stranger Things toyed with taking these two down a toxic and tired jealous/love triangle path. Thankfully this trailer has eased all of our fears of that continuing into the new season. Max and Eleven (who might be going by Jane now) look like they have become the absolute best of friends over the last year. 

They’re hanging out together without the boys, dancing around to records, going to the mall, dressing up in their most fashionable 80s wear, oh and taking on otherworldly monsters. You know, just regular teenage girl things. 

In a show that leans heavily toward male friendships, it’s so delightful to see these two sharing their own bond. 

2. Steve is still the best babysitter ever 

Steve stole all of our hearts during Stranger Things 2 as he turned into the best babysitter in all of Hawkins, Indiana. Splitting up with Nancy hit him pretty hard, but he never let it make him cold or unkind. In fact, in the wake of that break-up, he became one of the most beloved characters on the entire show. 

Season 3 finds Steve with a new job at the mall and his own special handshake with Dustin.  

Robin: How many children are you friends with?

All of them Robin, he’s friends with all of them. 

3. Joyce and Hopper might finally acknowledge their obvious chemistry

Fans have been shipping Jopper since day one and it looks like Stranger Things 3 may finally be delivering on this slow burn. Last year Joyce and Hopper definitely grew closer as they struggled to help Will and Jane adjust to life after their encounters with the Upside Down, but Joyce was also in a relationship with someone else. 

As much as we loved Bob Newby, superhero, losing him has only made us that much more hopeful that Joyce and Hopper will realize that they’re meant to be. 

It looks like Joyce might feel like moving her family away from Hawkins, and after the last two years who can blame her. She wants to keep her kids safe, and Hopper knows that. He also knows that he doesn’t want to lose her. If we know Hopper at all we know he’ll do everything he can to keep her and their little blended family safe and close by.

These two have an interesting history and captivating chemistry that we just can’t get enough of. 

4. Max and Lucas are going strong

Max and Lucas had one of the sweetest connections of Stranger Things 2, and it is one of the best depictions of a middle school crush-turned-relationship we’ve ever seen. Lucas worked the hardest to make sure that Max felt included in their group and even broke party rules to tell her the truth about Will and Jane. 

It looks like they’ve stuck together through the Summer and Max is more integrated into the group than ever. We can’t wait to see how their dynamic has developed over the time jump.

Max brings something totally new to the whole group and she lights up Lucas in a way that makes him even more lovable than he already was. Hopefully, they’re done dealing with Billy and his aggressive racism and get on to more fun things like carnival rides and shooting wrist rockets. 

5. So are Mike and Jane

The connection between Mike and Jane has always been at the center of Stranger Things. The Season 3 trailer has them in a lip lock and going on more fun adventures with the whole party. During Season 2 this relationship became pretty intense for a couple of 12-year-olds, to the point of almost being uncomfortably obsessive and over-sexualized. 

Our hope for Mike and Jane during Season 3 is that we get to see them just enjoy being young teenagers for a while. Let them both tone down the angst as much as possible and enjoy that first love feeling without leaning so heavily into themes that are more adult than either of them should be dealing with. 

6. Nancy and Jonathan…are in trouble?

There isn’t a whole lot of Nancy and Jonathan in the new trailer and what is there doesn’t look all that great for the super sleuth duo. This is a relationship that fans are pretty divided about. You either love them together or you think Jonathan is a pretty creepy guy who borders on the Toxic Nice Guy trope.  

It looks like these two are making an attempt to work at The Hawkins Post this year. The energy of the clip, however, resembles the feeling of being sent to the principal’s office. They’re also seen later, apparently unarmed, on opposite sides of the Upside Down’s latest monster. Where’s Steve and his trusty nail bat when you need him?

7. The kids are growing up

While to anyone who isn’t one anymore, teenagers are definitely still kids, the party is moving into the next stage of adolescence and that’s a pretty big deal. As with most friend groups, it looks like each of the kids is moving on as slightly different speeds, with some of them having more trouble than others. 

Mike: We’re not kids anymore. I mean what did you think, we’re just going to sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives. 

With Lucas and Max, and Mike and Jane paired off Dustin might feel like he’s getting left behind. Will might be similarly struggling with letting go of their childhood, especially after his was turned upside down, literally. Mike seems pretty determined to grow up, but something tells me these kids aren’t done playing in his basement.

It’s okay to want to be a kid as long as possible, especially in a world like this one. 

8. And they aren’t taking any crap

It looks like the kids are getting up to all sorts of new summer adventures, but the monsters from the Upside Down have returned with a vengeance. And the gang has had enough. Lucas is locked and loaded with his wrist rocket, and Jane looks more enraged than we’ve ever seen her before.

This time she has the whole group ready to back her up. The Upside Down doesn’t stand a chance against this team.  

9. We get to explore more of Hawkins

Normally when Stranger Things drops a new season the kids spend most of their time at school, their respective homes, or dangerous government buildings. With Stranger Things 3 being set in the middle of summer we get to see a whole new side of Hawkins, Indiana. 

This year we’re venturing out to the local pool, the brand new mall, the Fun Fair and more! Stranger Things does a pretty great job of world building and we are so excited to see our view of Hawkins expanding. 

10. Starcourt Mall is kind of a big deal

Starcourt Mall is the hot new hang out spot for all the youth of Hawkins, delighting Max and Eleven with all the shopping opportunities and giving Steve his first job. But it looks like not everyone in Hawkins is happy about the town’s newest establishment. 

There’s an angry mob of protesters calling for the removal of the new shopping center, holding signs saying that the mall is ruining small business in Hawkins. I wonder how the general store where Joyce works is handling the new competition. 

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