The show will return with two more episodes on July 1, 2022, with Season 4 Volume 2, but until then, fans are left waiting for answers in regards to the fate of some favorite characters and the future of Hawkins, Indiana. Here are the seven biggest questions left after Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1—but beware of Stranger Things spoilers ahead!
What really created the Upside Down in Stranger Things?
Is this the ultimate question of the show? Season 4’s first seven episodes provide a little more history about the Upside Down and its influence on the normal world, but there are still no clear answers as to how the other dimension came to be. In fact, it’s entirely possible that it was always there. Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo) even considers that it might’ve been around when dinosaurs roamed the earth. With only two more episodes left in Season 4–and Season 5 acting as the final season of Stranger Things–it’s also unclear whether we will ever have an answer to this question. Maybe we should start considering this question instead: Do we really want to know, or is it better that it remains a mystery?
Is Vecna the biggest threat in the Upside Down in Stranger Things?
The new season of Stranger Things introduces viewers to a new villain who is terrorizing Hawkins from the other side. His name is Vecna, and he has closer ties to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the history of Hawkins than it first appears. As is revealed by the end of Volume 1, Vecna is actually Henry Creel, a.k.a. One, played by Raphael Luce as a young boy and Jamie Campbell Bower as an adult. While trying to get her powers back, Eleven is forced to dive deep into one of her most traumatic memories, in which she thinks that she killed all of the other children training under Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine). But soon enough, she learns that it was actually One, a man she first meets as a kind orderly in Hawkins Lab. After One tricks Eleven into freeing him from Brenner’s control, he massacres a ton of people, including children, at the Hawkins Lab and tries enticing Eleven to join him. But then Eleven attacks him, seemingly ripping him apart and sending him to the Upside Down. This is where he presumably, over the following years, rebuilt himself and his power to become Vecna. In Stranger Things, there is still so much mystery to the Upside Down, and that includes who is really in power, whether it be Vecna or someone else, and what they want. During one episode of Season 4, Dustin considers if the Mind Flayer is the overruling power in the Upside Down. He says, “If the Demogorgon was just [the Mind Flayer’s] foot soldier, Vecna is his five-star general with the power to open gates.” Netflix So is this true? Is the Mind Flayer still the biggest threat to Eleven and the others in Hawkins? Or maybe there’s something even worse out there.
Will Nancy and Max escape Vecna’s curse in Stranger Things?
In the new episodes, the crew left in Hawkins starts investigating something they call “Vecna’s Curse,” based on the Dungeons & Dragons lore, after a girl from their high school dies in a vicious manner. Based on the circumstances, Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and the others correctly conclude that there’s something supernatural going on. Upon further investigation, they discover the signs of Vecna’s Curse, and unfortunately, Max is showing symptoms. Accepting that she might be Vecna’s next victim, Max writes heartfelt letters to everyone she cares about, including her late brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), which she reads aloud in what is arguably one of the best scenes in Season 4. When all hope seems lost, Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Robin (Maya Hawke) discover that music can help someone survive Vecna, and thankfully, Max just so happens to have her favorite Kate Bush cassette tape on her. Although Max makes it out of that encounter alive, she continues to listen to her favorite song to hopefully stop Vecna if he tries to attack her again. Then, right at the end of the season, Nancy is pulled under Vecna’s influence, which is right where the show leaves us–a major cliffhanger. Netflix Going into Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2, the main issue is whether or not Steve (Joe Keery) and the others can pull Nancy out of her trance and out of the Upside Down. But beyond that, Max, and possibly all of the main characters in Hawkins, are likely still in danger from Vecna. Can they all make it out alive?
Will Joyce and Hopper (finally) go on a date on Stranger Things?
Okay, so maybe this isn’t the most important question, given everything going on right now. But come on, these two deserve the chance to finally have their date at Enzo’s, which they planned before Hopper was dragged away to Russia and presumed dead by everyone he loves. At the end of Season 4 Volume 1, Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) successfully rescue Hopper (David Harbour) from the Russian prison and are reunited. While the trio still has to make it back home to the U.S. safe and sound, it’s about time that Joyce and Hopper get to go on a date and address their growing romantic feelings for one another. Netflix
What is Will’s painting of and who is it for?
At the beginning of Stranger Things Season 4, Will (Noah Schnapp) and Eleven prepare for the arrival of Mike (Finn Wolfhard), who is traveling to California to spend spring break with them. In a letter Eleven writes to Mike before he arrives, she shares that Will has been painting, but he won’t show her what it is. When Will, Eleven, and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) go to the airport to pick Mike up, Will brings a completed painting with him. It’s obvious that the painting is important to Will, and he continues to keep it with him whenever he travels somewhere with Mike. Eleven hypothesizes in her letter that “it’s for a girl he likes,” but based on hints the show has given, many people believe that it’s for Mike, with Decider breaking down this possibility in a recent post. Adding fuel to the fire, Harbour told Netflix Mexico in a video posted on Instagram, “If you’ve been watching the show you should know that Will is not interested in El, he’s interested in someone else in the group.”
Will Stranger Things’ Nancy and Jonathan stay together, or does Steve have a chance?
The new season successfully brings Steve back into the picture as an option for Nancy, showcasing their great chemistry as they travel through the Upside Down in search of answers about Vecna. Right now, Nancy and Jonathan are still together, but they’ve spent six months apart while the Byers and Eleven were in California. In Stranger Things Season 4, the main question about Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship is what their next step is. They are both making their plans for college, and Jonathan has been creating space between the two of them because he’s afraid of telling Nancy about wanting to stay in California with his mother. His new friend Argyle (Eduardo Franco) finally knocks some sense into him, convincing Jonathan to come clean to his girlfriend. While this will hopefully happen in Season 4 Volume 2, as of right now, Nancy’s developing her own identity in Hawkins. With Jonathan racing back to Hawkins at the end of Stranger Things Season 4, will he be able to reconcile with Nancy? Or will they decide that they are too different from each other after the time spent apart?
Do any other kids survive the Hawkins Lab massacre in Stranger Things?
In the final episode of Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1, Eleven (and audiences) learn the truth about what happened in the deadly massacre at Hawkins Lab that is first introduced at the beginning of Season 4, Episode 1. While Eleven first thinks that she’s the one to blame for the deaths, it’s actually Creel, or One, who goes on a rampage. Based on what the show has revealed about the tragic event so far, it seems like Eleven and Brenner are the only survivors, but it’s possible that other kids lived through that day. Although the chances likely aren’t great, if anyone else did survive Creel’s attack, they would be very useful allies for Eleven and the others when they face off against Vecna again. There’s also the possibility that Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), also known as Eight, who Eleven reunites with in Season 2, could come back to help. Netflix
Next, find out everything to know about Stranger Things Season 5.
