While the Stranger Things cast has remained extremely tight-lipped about the upcoming third season, the stars seem to unanimously agree that it will be scarier than ever. A few weeks ago, Natalia Dyer, a.k.a. Nancy Wheeler, dubbed season 3 “bigger, darker, scarier” than the first two. More recently, Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, confirmed that sentiment in an interview with MTV News—then took it a step further.
Schnapp revealed that the “threat,” whatever it may be, is much more intense this time around. "Oh, yeah, the threat is ... it's brutal. It gets bad. It's very big," the 14-year-old actor said. "I feel like every season it kinda gets more—like it's taking over Hawkins."
In the first Stranger Things season, Hawkins faced threats not only from a government organization that aimed to silence the gang and keep knowledge of the Upside Down quiet, but also the Demogorgon. Season 2 brought even more monsters, one of them the size of Hawkins itself.
Will had a pretty intense storyline during the first two seasons; when asked whether his character will get a little bit of a breather in season 3, the actor was honest. “I don’t think anyone in our show ever gets a break, that’s kind of what it’s about,” Schnapp said. “So I can't really say I get to just relax by the beach.”
Even executive producer Shawn Levy revealed the gloomier fate that is in store for the people of Hawkins in Season 3. “I can only promise you that season three eventually goes places that are darker and unquestionably more action-packed than we’ve ever gone before,” Levy told The Playlist in August 2018. "It would be a mistake for anyone to think that season three is the summer of fun and lightness because it’s a whole lot more than that."
Fans will be able to judge the frights for themselves when Stranger Things season 3 premieres on Netflix on July 4, 2019.