Stranger Things 4 trailer: 7 huge details and clues you missed and more

12 April 2022, 20:19

Watch the trailer for Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1

By Katie Louise Smith

Max floating in mid-air? Eleven's powers are back? Who is Vecna? Here's all the details and clues from the Stranger Things 4 trailer you might not have clocked.

It's here! It's finally here... Stranger Things 4 just dropped its first official full-length trailer teasing the first half of the season, and it is packed with big reveals and tiny details that are already blowing people's mind.

If you've been keeping up with all the teasers about Stranger Things 4 so far, you'll know there's four main storylines at play in the new season:

Hopper in the Russian prison, alongside Joyce and Murray who somehow end up finding him.
Will, Mike, Jonathan and Argyle in California, who get caught up in Eleven's story.
Eleven with Dr. Owens, and presumably Dr. Brenner in Hawkins Lab flashbacks that uncover Eleven's backstory.
Steve, Nancy, Robin, Lucas, Max, Dustin and Erica, with new character Eddie Munson joining them at the Creel House and in the Upside Down.

The trailer teases all of that and even more twists along the way (including Max floating in mid-air?!) Here's some of the biggest details you might have missed on your first viewing...

Stranger Things 4 trailer: All the details you missed. Picture: Netflix

Who is Vecna?

At the start of the trailer, it looks like The Night King from Game of Thrones has popped into Hawkins to cause some chaos. But if you cast your mind back to the already confirmed list of episodes, it's likely that this figure is actually Vecna.

After the terrifying Demogorgon and the all-powerful Mind Flayer, the main threat of Stranger Things 4 is going to be even worse. Vecna, who is referenced in the episode 2 title 'Vecna's Curse', is considered the greatest villain in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

Vecna appears to be tied into Max's storyline, as we see her running away from the figure in the Upside Down at one point.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Vecna also has the ability to possess corpses. With the link to Max, could Vecna be using the likeness of Billy's human body to present as a physical being in the Upside Down?

The visual reference to Billy's death scene in Stranger Things 3 is pretty striking too, huh?

Stranger Things 4: Who is Vecna? Is Vecna linked to Billy? Picture: Netflix

Did Max get powers or is she possessed?

Throughout the trailer, we see Max sitting at her step-brother Billy's grave, following his death at the end of season 3 at the hands of the Mind Flayer. But at one point in the trailer, we see Max floating above the ground, in the exact same position we see "Vecna" in, later in the trailer.

Does this mean Max has powers? Or is Max the next host and now part of the hive mind? If she is will the same thing happen to Will over in California too? Is this Vecna's way of communicating with the real world from within the Upside Down?

Stranger Things 4: Does Max have powers? Picture: Netflix

Max's encounter with the Vecna in the trailer also appears to reference Will's nightmares are the beginning of season 2. Will was having those nightmares and visions of the Upside Down because he was the Mind Flayer's host... So, could Vecna be controlling what Max can see?

In the Stranger Things 4 poster featuring Max, Max is the only character looking back towards the camera. The same thing happened on the Stranger Things 3 posters with Eleven and Will, as they were the two who were able to sense trouble with the Mind Flayer. Max is definitely connected to Vecna in some way, right?

Stranger Things 4: Is Max connected to Vecna? Picture: Netflix

The name on Billy's grave changes when Max hovers in the air.

As Max is sitting at Billy's grave, the headstone clearly says "Billy Hargrove". But when we see her floating above the ground, it changes to "William Hargrove". Production error, or something really mysterious going on in that graveyard?

Stranger Things 4: Why does Billy's gravestone change? Picture: Netflix

Victor Creel is revealed for the first time – is he connected to Vecna?

While some fans think Vecna might be linked to Billy, others think he's linked to new character Victor Creel (played by Robert Englund).

The trailer gives fans the first look at Creel, a patient imprisoned at Pennhurst Mental Hospital for the gruesome murders of his family, which he committed back in 1959 at the Creel House.

Creel gauged his eyes out at some point between then and 1986. With the Creel House appearing to be the one true source and location of this season's biggest Upside Down threat, could Vecna be the reason why Creel removed his eyes? Did Vecna use and possess Creel all those years ago causing him to kill his own family?

The shot of Vecna's clawed hand has also sent fans into meltdown over the very striking nod to Freddy Krueger, who Englund famously played in Nightmare on Elm Street.

Stranger Things 4: Who is Victor Creel? Picture: Netflix

Eleven's powers are set to return – but even more dangerous than before.

Dr. Owens is the one who has relocated the Byers family in the hopes that they would remain safe and far away from any trouble as possible. But Owens now needs Eleven to help fight the war brewing in Hawkins. However, it looks like there could be two groups wanting for El's powers for different reasons...

We know that Owens has worked to protect El and Will in the past. However, in previous trailers, we've seen what appears to be El getting kidnapped by men in suits who drive mysterious black cars.

Could Dr. Brenner also be trying to kidnap El for sinister reasons? In previous trailers, we've seen flashbacks of the Rainbow Room at Hawkins Lab after a bloody incident. As we now know, El was the one who caused that incident, with powers far, far more dangerous than we've seen her use before.

It looks like episodes 7 and 8, "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab" and "Papa", will focus on Eleven's deadly backstory, and will see her get her powers back. But based on the trailer, it looks like El may never be the same again once doing so.

The question is: Will Eleven's powers be restored with good intent? Or will she be weaponised for terror?

Stranger Things 4 trailer: Will Eleven's powers turn her into a villain? Picture: Netflix

Joyce and Murray's storyline has already been teased.

We bet you're wondering, "how the hell do Joyce and Murray manage to get to Russia in a plane"?! Well, that detail appears to have been revealed last year.

In two trailers, we've seen Joyce receive a package covered in Russian stamps. In the 'California' trailer, she opens the package to reveal a Russian Matryoshka doll.

Back in February 2021, fans were sent similar packages contain the same doll. Inside the doll was a phone number that directed callers to a voicemail from Yuri, a new character who is a "seedy and unpredictable Russian smuggler who loves bad jokes, cold hard cash, and crunchy style peanut butter."

Yuri works at a 'Fish and Fly' company in Anchorage, Alaska, which is not far from where Hopper is in Kamchatka. He no doubt supplied the plane that Joyce and Murray use to get to Russia.

Stranger Things 4: How do Murray and Joyce get to Russia? Picture: Netflix

Elsewhere in the trailer:

Hawkins icon Karen Wheeler now has a perm.
Whatever is happening in Hawkins has also put Karen and little Holly in danger too.
Eddie, Nancy, Robin and Steve all end up in the Upside Down.
Steve fights off hundreds of Demobirds (?!) echoing his iconic Demodogs scene in season 2, as Eddie Munson plays the guitar.
Hopper is being used as a soldier to fight against a Demogorgon. We also see flashbacks to his arrival in the prison.
Lucas looks absolutely terrified at one point while looking at something in the Creel House.
Will's school project is on Alan Turing, a computer scientist who famously broke the enigma code in World War 2.
The song playing in the trailer is 'Separate Ways (World's Apart)' by Journey.

Stranger Things 4, Volume 1 will be released on May 27th, with Volume 2 following on July 1st.