Back to the '80s
New season, new year. Season two will pick up almost a year after the events of the finale, around Halloween 1984, with Netflix teasing the town of Hawkins is "still reeling from the horrors of the Demogorgon and the secrets of Hawkins Lab. Will Byers has been rescued from the Upside Down but a bigger, sinister entity still threatens those who survived."
But we will also see other places aside from Hawkins.
"We will venture a little bit outside of Hawkins," co-creator Matt Duffer told EW. "I will say the opening scene [of the premiere] does not take place in Hawkins."
Eleven's Ba-aaack
Come on, you didn't think they would really get rid of the series' breakout character? Oh, you did? That's so sweet.
"You do know that Hopper left some Eggo waffles in a box in the woods, and you know that that rift, we never really saw it get closed, and you know that lab is still, in some iteration, out there, and you know that only certain people in the town knew what happened last year, so it's a year later, and Hopper's under a lot of stress when we meet him, because he's got to sort of put tops on all these pots," David Harbour (aka Chief Hopper) told us. "And he's also involved some way in the reemergence of this Eleven character."
More Will
While Will was missing most of season one, stuck in the Upside Down, his recovery from what happened to him is a major part of season two. Think PTSD and flashbacks.
"They'll get more into Will's storyline and they'll talk about how the Upside Down affected him," Noah Schnapp, said. "I have a lot of emotionally challenging scenes this year too."
New Monster
The Demogorgon is so 1983.
"I will say that the threat that is introduced this season is something that will carry over for more than just this season, so it will become sort of our main villain, shall we say, for the show," co-creator Ross Duffer said of the new threat.
"I think it's more than just a monster," Finn Wolfhard, Mike on the series, teased.
The New Kids on the Block
There's Max (Sadie Sink), a young teen who's more of a tomboy and has a complicated history. She's guards her past and remains suspicious of pretty much everyone, which makes her all the more appealing to Dustin and Lucas. Max's stepbrother, Billy (Dacre Montgomery), is charismatic and popular…but has a violent streak. He's the same age as Nancy, Steve and Jonathan and fans can expect to see him as one of the show's human villains.
"Stephen King always has really great human villains," Matt Duffer explained to EW. "The evil in the real world is often as bad or worse than the supernatural evil, so we wanted to introduce a character like that."
New Adults on the Block
In addition to the two new kids, The Goonies Star Sean Astin joins the cast as Joyce's new boyfriend, nice guy Bob Newby, while Paul Reiser will play Dr. Owens, and we all know you can't trust doctors on this show.
Wheelers in Distress
A year later, brother-sister duo Mike and Nancy Wheeler are still struggling to cope with the loss of their respective BFFs, Barb and Eleven.
"[Nancy] and Mike are both the most screwed-up because they're the ones who both lost someone," co-creator Ross Duffer told EW. "They're both grappling with that, and we see the effects."