Update: This preview has been pulled from YouTube following the Texas school massacre, where 19 children and two teachers were killed. The “Stranger Things” Season 4 premiere will also include a warning card related to the shooting.
We’re one week away from the release of “Stranger Things” Season 4 on Netflix, but to tide fans over the streaming service has released the first eight minutes of the season online to watch right now.
The sequence begins ominously, with a paper boy riding his route through an autumn-looking Hawkins. We then learn we’re witnessing events that are happening on Sept. 8, 1979 and we’re following… Dr. Brenner! Yes indeed, Matthew Modine’s villainous scientist from Season 1 is back, kinda, as we watch him get ready for work.
And what’s happening at the laboratory? Well, tests are being administered on various subjects, including Eleven — who is seen here as a digitally de-aged Millie Bobby Brown to show her character as a youngster.
We won’t spoil what happens next, but suffice it to say this opening sequence serves as a mission statement of sorts for Season 4. If Season 3 was the show’s “summer blockbuster” season, “Stranger Things 4” is fully embracing the horror genre — blood and all.
Watch the “Stranger Things” Season 4 opening scene in the video above.
Season 4 consists of nine episodes total. Also on Friday, it was revealed that the first seven episodes will be dropping on May 27. Fans won’t have to wait too long for the conclusion, as the final two episodes will be available on July 1.
Creators the Duffer Brothers have previously revealed that this season’s episodes are longer than any before. So, if you’re a bit underwhelmed by only getting two episodes in Volume 2, take heart in knowing that the Season 4 finale, Episode 9, is over two hours long.
“[Episodes] 7 and 9 in particular are movies,” Matt Duffer told TheWrap. “And nine is a long movie… “We’re still refining it but we will say that it is over two hours. It’s a big one.”
Basically, “Stranger Things” Season 4 Volume 2 could still take you an entire afternoon to watch.