Well over a year has passed since the last season of Stranger Things, and Netflix only recently released a full trailer revealing some of what's to come in Season 3. Set to a cut of The Who's "Baba O'Riley," the trailer featured plenty of footage but not a ton of context. There's a new monster, some new 80s-tastic outfits, and all kinds of action, including some that has fans worried about Steve. Now, a trailer for the Season 3 video game has released, and it seems to confirm some details.
First, take a look at the game trailer, and then we'll get into the confirmed details:
At first glance, the Stranger Things 3: The Game trailer actually looks a lot like the trailer for Stranger Things Season 3. It opens with the shot of Dustin being surprised by his friends (and poor Lucas getting sprayed in the face for his efforts), the kids in the field, Billy being ogled by women at the pool, Dustin and Steve high-fiving, Eleven and Max at the mall, an 80s-style goon with a gun walking around, Billy in the shower, a bunch of quick shots, and the monster.
Basically, the game trailer is nearly a shot-for-shot copy of the season trailer, showing off the character designs for the game, some of the challenges players will face, and where the action will go down. That said, there are two moments from the game footage that give away some info about show footage that wasn't previously clear. The first comes with the shot of video game Mike and Will.
In the show trailer, Mike's voiceover is heard over shots of the kids on bikes, Max and Eleven hanging out in El's room, Dustin looking lonely while Max and Lucas run off hand-in-hand, and a wet Will staring sadly at a photo of he and his friends in their Ghostbusters costumes.
Mike's tone is actually pretty harsh, and I honestly thought he was talking to either Dustin or Hopper when I first heard the voiceover. He hasn't always been the softest with Dustin, and he just went ahead and attacked Hopper back in Season 2, so they felt like the likeliest candidates, even if the trailer footage was cut to make it seem like Will was getting the message.
Based on the game trailer, Mike is indeed taking that tone with Will, in a set scene in the Wheeler basement. This answers the question of who Mike is speaking to and where they are; the questions that remain are why Mike is being kinda harsh with the one friend who he has always been gentle with and how Will will respond.
Does it have something to do with Mike having El in the picture, while Will has to face that he missed out on some childhood experiences due to his trauma? Is this a bad thing, or something that has to happen as the kids grow up? Is Mike just being a moody teenager, perhaps having gotten a look at the video game version of his hair in a dream sequence? (Okay, probably not, but Mike's hair is pretty hilarious in 16-bit gameplay.)
That Mike is talking to Will in one of only two voiceover sequences of the Season 3 trailer is one key detail confirmed by the game trailer; the second has to do with Hopper. Take a look:
In the show trailer, Hopper's narration can be heard over footage of El and Max at the mall, Hawkins folks protesting Starcourt Mall, a bloody-lipped Hopper at the fair with Joyce in the background, armed 80s goons on the prowl, and Hopper talking. The video is cut to make it look like he was talking to Joyce, but it sort of looked like a trick of the editing and the two weren't in the same scene at all.
Well, it's still possible that the two shots of Hopper and Joyce from the Season 3 trailer aren't from the same scene, but the game trailer indicates that Hop is indeed talking to Joyce. I thought there was a chance Hop was talking to Eleven prior to the game trailer. It does make sense that he'd be saying this to Joyce, though.
Who could really blame her if she no longer felt safe in Hawkins and wanted to take her boys to build a home somewhere less likely to be invaded by a monster from the Upside Down? Hey, at least her hair looks like crazy than Mike's in 16-bit. Could Stranger Things end Season 3 with the Byers family moving away from Hawkins?
We'll have to wait until July to find out via the show or the game, unfortunately, which is a departure from the release of the previous mobile game. A Stranger Things game released ahead of Season 2 back in 2017, and players could collect items in the game to unlock new footage.
That game released more than three weeks before the second season. That said, that game didn't feature any spoilers beyond comments that would only come to make sense after the episodes became available. Stranger Things 3: The Game looks like it would be packed with spoilers if it released before the new season.
As somebody who loved the mobile game, I'm a little bummed that we won't get a follow-up to pass the time in the final month or so before the new season finally releases, but it should still be fun to play eventually. Interestingly, if the world of the new game is built similarly to the world of the mobile game, it looks like the characters will be visiting Hawkins Lab.
Of course, we shouldn't take what happens in the game trailer as the gospel truth of what will go down on the show. Mike may not be wielding a baseball bat, Eleven may not be wandering the streets of Hawkins in broad daylight, and Billy may not be showering while wearing pants. Still, it's probably safe to say that the moments from the game trailer that match moments from the show trailer confirm details about the new season.
Now, we just need to figure out how to make July 4 come faster! Season 3 and the game both release on the 4th of July, which may result in fans everywhere forgoing fireworks in favor of Netflix and/or a video game. Stranger Things 3: The Game will blend the 16-bit retro art style with modern gameplay mechanics, and players will tackle puzzles and combat on top of exploring the world of Hawkins.
Unlike the mobile game ahead of Season 2, Stranger Things 3: The Game offers a two-player mode as well as single player with an AI partner. There will be 12 playable characters. According to the official description, the game will allow players the chance to explore "the eerie world of Hawkins to uncover new mysteries beyond what's seen in Season 3." So, definitely worth playing if you need a fix of Stranger Things after you finish watching Season 3!
The Stranger Things game will release on July 4 for Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC, Mac, Android, and iOS. If you need some ways to pass the time until the show and game in July, swing by our 2019 Netflix premiere schedule for options.
