Entertainment

Watch The Hawkins Gang Face A Terrifying Showdown In This New ’Stranger Things 3’ Trailer

With just a little over a week to go before the July 4 premiere, Netflix just dropped a new Stranger Things Season 3 trailer that's tastier than a cone from Scoops Ahoy. The new teaser is chock full of hints about what's ahead for Eleven, Hopper, and the rest of your Hawkins' favorites, but the biggest takeaway is that going to the mall is terrifying. From rats to a monster that makes the demogorgon look like Mews, the Starcourt Mall is looking more and more nefarious.

The trailer begins with an ominous voice that says, “You let us in… and now you are going to have to let us stay.” Eleven declares that she thought she closed the gate to the Upside Down for good, but it may not be the case. “What if we locked him out here with us?” she asks. Then we see lots of rats racing toward an empty building, followed by a dark spirit of some kind. Will wonders if this evil presence will attach themselves to a new host — who could be human. Could it be Billy?

Elsewhere, the whole gang is having a less than great time as they come face to face with something far more dangerous than a teenager left alone with their parent's credit card in Claire's. The trailer shows the gang prepping for a showdown — which might just happen at the mall. In true Hawkins' fashion, the mall doesn't appear to be a normal shopping court. At the end of the trailer, the gang is stuck with a monster inside the mall and the lights go out completely. Uh oh.

As Netflix previously confirmed, Stranger Things Season 3 is set during the summer of 1985. The kids should be free to enjoy the town's new mall, jam out to '80s music, and generally have a stress-free vacation, but nothing is ever that simple in Hawkins. The new trailer illustrates once again that no one is truly safe as long as the Upside Down exists. And with the rest of the town, and maybe even the outside world, starting to notice the weirdness going on around them, Eleven in particular could be in danger.

In March, David Harbour teased at MCM Comic-Con that Eleven and Hopper's father-daughter relationship would evolve throughout Season 3, culminating a super emotional finale, per Deadline. "It's very unexpected what happens in the end and it's very, very moving," the actor said. "I think episode eight is the most moving thing we've ever shot."

Hopefully, the episode won't get its emotional punch from Eleven being separated from Hopper in some way. It's clear from the footage Netflix has offered up so far that the stakes are higher than ever before, and don't forget that way back in November 2017, there was a hint that Matthew Modine's Dr. Brenner (AKA Papa) could reenter the fold soon. Add in Hopper looking very much like a man on a mission in the trailer, and the show could be heading toward a showdown between Eleven's two dads.

Rats, Upside Down issues plaguing the mall, and a distressed Hopper? One thing is certain, Stranger Things Season 3 is shaping up to be the most intense visit to Hawkins yet.