Stranger Things season 4 teaser hints at homage to this famous horror classic

If it feels like we’ve been waiting forever for the new season of Stranger Things to premiere, it’s because we basically have been! Two long years after season 3 was released and we’re all still sitting around waiting for any new piece of information we can get about the next installment.

Fortunately, we do know that it’s coming out sometime in 2022, and now that we’re entering the final months of the year, we’re expecting Netflix to provide more hints and teases soon.

Good news came this afternoon in the form of a teaser video, as it’s been revealed we’ll be getting the third Stranger Things season 4 teaser trailer tomorrow, Sept. 25, at Netflix’s TUDUM event. Yes, we got a teaser for a teaser, but that’s beside the point!

The point is, we know we’ll be getting the third teaser for the upcoming season during tomorrow’s virtual event. There’s scheduled to be Stranger Things news announced during the first hour, so stay tuned! Additionally to that fact, the teaser we were given today does hint at a few things. Check it out below and see what you catch.

For one, it looks like the Stranger Things season 4 release date might be hiding in plain sight. The date on the newspaper in the clip is listed as March 26, 1959. Although we thought at first that might be the release date, March 26, 2022 is a Saturday, and we know Netflix releases their shows on Fridays. After some theorizing from the Netflix Life team, the case could be that the events being reported in the newspaper happened the day prior, on March 25.

Could Stranger Things season 4 be released on or at least around March 25, 2022? It seems very probable.

The second major tease in this clip is the time jump between 1959, the year listed in the newspaper, and 1986, the year Stranger Things season 4 takes place. That’s 27 years, and any horror buff will know what that means.

Is there an It connection in Stranger Things season 4?

If you’re familiar with the book It by Stephen King (or the TV and movie adaptations), you’ll know that “it” returns to the fictional town of Derry, Maine every 27 years — without fail. This is a very memorable part of the story and has become an iconic number in the world of horror. There’s no way the Stranger Things writers decided on the year 1959 without realizing the implications. This has to be on purpose!

That being said, we’re not sure if there will be a legitimate connection to It in Stranger Things season 4, however there’s likely to be an homage, even if it is small. The Netflix Original is known to reference iconic horror movies, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Halloween, Poltergeist, Children of the Corn, and more.

Stranger Things has already referenced It in the past, and there’s no denying the main group of friends in the show is very similar to The Losers Club from Stephen King’s story. Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things, also played Richie Tozier in the most recent It movies.

We’ll be curious to see if there are other It references sprinkled into Stranger Things season 4. Hey, I’d take a clown reminiscent of Pennywise, but maybe that’s just me!

Keep up with us at Netflix Life as we continue to cover Stranger Things season 4 news, as well as Netflix’s TUDUM event on Sept. 25.