The Stranger Things Cast Dropped Some Major Hints About Season 2

“Season 2 takes place about a year after the events of Season 1, so it's the fall of 1984,” Matarazzo told InStyle. “It really focuses on how Noah’s character, Will, is doing. Because really, the story of Stranger Things is about Will. Sure, it’s cool to have the funny kid with the hat and the one with the powers and everything—but the show is about Will. This season captures that, and you see him more—not just in flashbacks or the Upside Down, but he's with us. He's one of the boys now—and he always was, but no one saw that side of the relationship.”

“You get to see how Will's coping with everything that’s going on with him, and he's not doing too well,” said Matarazzo. “He's pretty sick, and we're all trying to help—but we just don't understand.” There are also a few new characters we’ll meet this season. “I got to work with Sadie [Sink], who plays Max, the most. She's the ‘new girl,’ or at least, that’s what everyone's calling her. But Max is a great character and adds a cool, new dynamic to the show. She really impacts some specific characters—but I’m not going to say which ones,” Matarazzo added.

“It’s a lot darker and more emotional and emotionally draining for me, 10 times more than the first season, because it’s so confusing for Eleven this season,” Brown told InStyle, explaining that she has more than the 40 or so lines she had last season. “Everything is explained. There are some things that aren’t. Season 3, hopefully.”

“[Season 2] will surprise you, and I think you will also be very happy. It still contains that magic I think we have in the first season, which is that sort of Amblin Entertainment-esque, Steven Spielberg kind of ‘magic of the movies’ feel to it, but it’s also very different,” Harbour told Deadline.

“In terms of Hopper, it plays to a lot of darker themes. Even though in Season 1 he certainly had his darkness, it plays to a lot of his struggles, and it sort of peels the onion back of how he struggles to deal with the pressures of feeling like you have saved a kid, and now who does that make you?”

“It still has the same heart, but it’s darker. You’re gonna see these characters sort of having to deal with what happened last season to this season and they’re sort of developing. Nobody can be the same,” Wolfhard told People.

He also dished on new character Max [Sadie Sink] and how she’ll change the dynamics of the group. "She’s this sort of skater punk girl, and Dustin and Lucas end up kind of falling in love with her. And she sort of gets into the group, and I’m not really happy with it because I’m kind of envious because they’re in love and I’m not," Wolfhard said.

“I think Season 2 is a lot different. And it’s gonna be better and darker, and you get more into the characters instead of like last season, so that’s the good part about it,” McLaughlin told HuffPost. “Yeah, you’ll definitely dig into Lucas this year.”

“People are like, ‘What about Barb?’ I’m always scared to say it because I’m scared of what the reaction will be. I’m like, ‘She—did you not? She died. You saw it. We showed it very graphically, too.’ It’s really funny, but the funniest thing about it—well, not ha-ha funny—but I think the fan response actually really shaped the second season and Nancy’s plot line. I’m not sure if the brothers or anybody were really aware of Barb’s importance. It was definitely a surprise but important. In hindsight, you’re like, ‘Yeah, of course!’ And especially for Nancy. A huge part of her story line is losing her best friend,” Dyer told Coveteur.

“I didn’t know what to expect about where the show was going. But it trumped whatever I was thinking. A lot of things are going to be addressed,” Heaton told GQ.

“I'm interested to see [what happens] now that everybody knows what's been going down with the whole supernatural elements, because Steve was in the dark until the end of episode eight. So the entire time, I was kind of playing catch up with all these other characters,” Kerry told Entertainment Tonight. “I'm just interested to see, now that everybody's in on it, what happens now and where do we go from here? And obviously, his relationship with Nancy as well. I think it's what got him into the whole thing, and I think he really cares about her.”