Stranger Things Just Added An Intriguing New Character, And There's More Good News

Stranger Things is one of Netflix's biggest shows after only two seasons, and fans are already anxiously awaiting the third season. Details about what's to come are still relatively scarce, but we now know some intriguing details about what's in store. Another new character has been cast, and one of the most entertaining breakout characters of Season 2 will be around a lot more in Season 3. Here's what's happening.

The new character will be an "alternative girl" who isn't happy with her lot in life. She has a boring day job that just isn't satisfying for her, and she wants more thrills and excitement out of her life. Unfortunately for her -- and as you might expect in Hawkins -- she'll find more excitement than she wanted when she discovers a troubling secret that was never meant to see the light of day. The character's name hasn't yet been revealed, but we do know who will play her: Maya Hawke.

The 19-year-old actress doesn't have a whole lot of roles to her name. Her breakout role was Jo March in the Little Women miniseries that debuted on the BBC in 2017. Before landing Jo, Maya Hawke was best known for being the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. Stranger Things will put Hawke in the spotlight in a big way, and it could open the door to more opportunities to her. It should be interesting to see how her character fits into the existing ensemble on Stranger Things. Assuming her character is also around 19-years-old, she could be connected to Steve Harrington, who will be around the same age and presumably can't spend all his time hanging out with Dustin and the other kids. Variety describes Hawke as "one of the new leads," which likely means that we'll see plenty of her in Season 3.

Another character who should turn up a fair amount in Season 3 is none other than Erica, who debuted in Season 2 as Lucas' hilarious little sister who had no patience for his and his friends' shenanigans. Actress Priah Ferguson expressed interest in showing up even more in Season 3, and she'll get her wish. Ferguson has been bumped up to a recurring actress and have an arc of her own.

In Season 3, Erica will have a group of her own friends who are ready to get into the action themselves. She and her pals go on a quest to save Hawkins when a new threat emerges and puts a whole lot of people in danger. On the one hand, this description could almost apply to Lucas and Co. in Season 1, although they were older than Erica at the time. On the other hand, Erica was quite disdainful of her brother's hobbies in Season 2, which probably means that she doesn't have an extensive knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons to help her to deal with monsters and mayhem. Whatever happens, we can bet that she'll be hilarious.

Unfortunately, we probably have a while to wait before we see Maya Hawke and Priah Ferguson in Stranger Things. For a rundown of what details are currently available, take a look at what we know so far about Stranger Things Season 3. For what you can watch while we wait for more Stranger Things, check out our 2018 Netflix premiere guide and our 2018 midseason TV premiere schedule.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).