Spoilers for Stranger Things Season 3 below. 🚨
- The third season of Stranger Things premieres on Netflix on July 4, 2019.
- Fans have had to wait almost two years for the return of Stranger Things, but the cast promises new episodes won't disappoint; "It's darker but it's funnier," Gaten Matarazzo told the BBC.
- Season 3's new monster, which was teased on the show's official poster, is actually an upgrade of something viewers have seen before.
Fans have been waiting a long time for new episodes of Stranger Things, and the series finally returns to Netflix on July 4—perfectly timed for a holiday binge-watch.
While everyone's favorite characters—including Eleven, Mike, Hopper, and Joyce—are set to return, it's safe to assume the gang will face some new and terrifying creatures in Season 3.
Here, we take a look at all of the monsters we've seen in Stranger Things so far, and what fans can expect from new episodes.
The Demogorgon
Season 1's major villain was the Demogorgon. With origins in Dungeons & Dragons, the monster features an unmistakably wiry body and a face reminiscent of Jurassic Park's Dilophosaurus. The Demogorgon's reign in Season 1 saw the monster abduct multiple people from Hawkins, taking them to the Upside Down and usually murdering them (Justice for Barb!).
Eventually, Eleven defeated Season 1's monster in a dramatic showdown at Hawkins Middle School.
The Demogorgon makes a cameo at the very end of Season 3, so it's worth watching past the end credits.
The (original) Mind Flayer
In Season 2, the Mind Flayer preyed upon Hawkins and tried to use Will to cross over from the Upside Down. Will's time in the Upside Down in Season 1 made him the perfect host for the monster to wreak havoc on the town. And even though Eleven seemingly sealed the gate to the Upside Down at the end of Season 2, the Mind Flayer isn't really gone—as we saw from the final scene of Season 2, the monster is waiting at the Hawkins Middle School site in the Upside Down.
According to ScreenRant, one of the show's producers, Shawn Levy, discusses the Mind Flayer in the official companion, Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down. Per the official companion:
"The Mind Flayer hasn't lost interest in Hawkins either. The tentacled creature continues to loom near Hawkins inside the Upside Down, and its malevolent influence isn't absent from the new season. 'We ended Season 2 with a clear signal that the Shadow Monster was not eliminated, and maybe he's even identified his foe,' says Levy. 'And that darkness, and the battle that it will require, grows in Season 3.'"
Matt Duffer already told Entertainment Weekly, "Eleven closed the gate, but the Mind Flayer is still alive in the Upside Down." In Season 3, we see the Mind Flayer come back with a vengeance as it seeks a new host.
The Vines
In both Season 1 and Season 2, whenever the gate to the Upside Down opens, vines or tendrils begin to grow, attempting to burst through from one realm to another. The vines are also able to commandeer humans, which then become hosts for their eggs, which in turn hatch Demodogs. In Season 2, we saw Will return from the Upside Down and cough up a slug, which grew into a Demodog, providing further evidence that all of the monsters are connected.
In Season 2, Hopper discovered vines growing in tunnels underneath Hawkins, and found that fire was their Kryptonite. The group discovered that trying to destroy the vines had a physical impact on Will, who the Mind Flayer was using as a connection to the real world. This means the vines must be connected to—or, perhaps, a part of—the Mind Flayer.
Demodogs
A descendant of the Demogorgon, Demodogs are mysterious creatures that probably shouldn't be kept as pets. However, when Dustin discovers one in a trash can in Season 2, he can't let the little critter go. Though Dustin's pet started out as a sluglike creature coughed up by Will, it eventually grew into a much bigger creature controlled by the Demogorgon.
Of course, Dustin named his Demodog D'Artagnan (shortened to Dart) and continued to secretly care for it, even after Will had identified it as a slug from the Upside Down. Dustin finally realized Dart was evil after the creature escaped from its tank and ate the Henderson family's cat, Mews.
Billy Hargrove and the Flayed
What sounds like a really great band name is actually the main focus of Strangers Things 3.
Despite Eleven closing the gate to the Upside Down at the end of Season 2, a darkness is still lurking in Hawkins, and it needs a host. As the trailer's voiceover teased, "You let us in. And now, you are going to have to let us stay. We're going to end you. We are going to end your friends. Then we're going to end everyone."Though Season 3 begins with Russian scientists using a machine to open up a new gate to the Upside Down, it's clear from the outset that the Mind Flayer isn't done with Hawkins just yet.
In the first episode of Stranger Things 3, Billy Hargrove, the town's resident bully, becomes the Mind Flayer's new host. What better way to cross over from the Upside Down than with one of Hawkins' creepiest residents?
While on his way to start an affair with Karen Wheeler (Mike and Nancy's mom, mind you), Billy has a car crash and is dragged into the basement of a steelworks. Coming to, Billy finds himself in the Upside Down, face to face with an evil version of himself. Once back in Hawkins, Billy's veins pulse with poison, and it soon becomes apparent that he's possessed. Furthermore, he has a special mission from the Upside Down: To recruit more hosts to become "the flayed" (would 100 percent watch that band, btw).
Billy kidnaps fellow lifeguard Heather and turns her. Together, they tie up her parents and offer them to the monster. Gradually, more and more members of the community are flayed, and this season's Mind Flayer takes on an entirely different—and completely disgusting—form.
The Mind Flayer 2.0
Eagle-eyed fans had already noticed that the Stranger Things 3 trailer and official poster, featured an exceedingly creepy new monster. But as it turns out, Season 3's monster is actually just the Mind Flayer in a new form:
As Billy "flays" new members of the community, the Mind Flayer grows throughout Season 3. Much like zombies in Day of the Dead, the flayed are drawn to the steelworks where their bodies literally melt. Once they're a puddle on the floor, the Mind Flayer 2.0 sucks up the goo, making itself even bigger in the process. This Mind Flayer is a team effort, and its new form means the Season 3 death toll is seriously high.
As for what the Mind Flayer wants, Billy reveals to Eleven that she's the target. He tells her that everything the monster does is for her, and that includes attempting to destroy everything close to her. It seems the Upside Down won't stop until she's a part of it.
