Stranger Things 4 Volume One gave us a whole lot of story in seven supersized episodes. But the show still has much to resolve in the second half of the season. (No wonder the final two episodes will run nearly four hours total.) From demon curses and a frenzied mob, to international intrigue and a mystery painting, these are the eleven biggest questions we have for Stranger Things 4 Volume Two.
Did Demobats Infect Steve with an Upside Down Virus?
Robin’s fear about rabies is well founded. If a wild animal bites you in the real world you go see a doctor immediately. So if a bunch of monstrous Demobats bite you in the Upside Down, you should at least be concerned. And we are after Steve turned into a tasting platter for those flapping terrors. Especially because we’ve already seen how physical connections with the dark dimension can cause major problems across both planes of existence. As we’ve seen from Will, Eleven, and Billy, it has always been a dark omen when the Upside Down gets inside of you. Hopefully for Steve Demobats don’t carry any sort of interdimensional disease.
Can Max and Nancy Escape Vecna’s Curse?
Max barely escaped death at Vecna’s twisted hands thanks to Robin and Nancy’s chat with Victor Creel. The pair learned music can help break someone out of the Dark Wizard’s trance, letting them return to the real world. Episode seven ended with Nancy still locked in the Upside Down, but even if/when her friends pull Nancy back, she won’t be totally free of her deadly connection with Vecna. Neither is Max, who has been listening to Kate Bush on repeat ever since her encounter with the monster.
Is it even possible to totally break free of Vecna’s curse? If so what will that take? Or will Max and Nancy always have to worry that he will pull them back into his realm?
Can the Gang Clear Eddie and Victor Creel for Crimes They Didn’t Commit?
Vecna’s victims aren’t limited to those he kills. He leaves behind untold grief for their loved ones. But in the case of Eddie and Victor, Vecna also left behind scapegoats. Poor Victor Creel has sat locked away in darkness falsely accused of murdering his family. Now all of Hawkins is hunting down Eddie, who they believe is responsible for the recent space of Vecna’s murders. It will be hard, if not impossible, to explain tha a supernatural monster actually murdered all those people. But will Stranger Things 4 Volume Two end with clearing Eddie and Victor Creel of murder? It might sound impossible, but they did previously concoct a way to hold the government responsible for Barb’s death.
What Will Happen if the Townsfolk Catch the Hellfire Club Members?
There might not be time for anyone to officially clear Eddie of wrongdoing, though. Not with the high school basketball team’s captain leading the entire town on a frenzied hunt to find members of the Hellfire Club. Satanic Panic has come to Hawkins, Indiana, and that young group of D&D players are now being blamed for every tragedy that has occurred in their town. There’s little reason to think they will survive an encounter with the mob. The Upside Down is not the only dimension full of deadly monsters.
Will the California Kids Rescue Eleven From Brenner?
Papa is back, as are Eleven’s powers. Dr. Martin Brenner helped his “daughter” unlock her lost abilities by showing her the memory of the first time she unleashed them. But he obviously can’t be trusted. Will Brenner really let Eleven go a second time now that he has her back under his control? Even if she escapes that underground bunker, though, she’s in the middle of nowhere with no way to get home. Her only hope of reaching Hawkins might lie with a pizza delivery truck from California full of her friends. Mike, Will, Jonathan, and Argyle are on the hunt for The Nina Project. But with the government searching all of them down, too, it won’t be easy for them to reach Indiana even if they do rescue her.
Will Eleven Fight Vecna in Stranger Things 4 Volume Two?
We’re willing to wager that Eleven will ultimately get back to Hawkins eventually. However, her real fight remains in the Upside Down with her old foe, One, whom the Hawkins kids call Vecna. Eleven bested him before, sending him to the dark dimension where he became Vecna, but can she kill him and end his threat forever? He’s likely to be even more powerful now. While still human, he told Eleven that with each murder his power and strength grew. Now that he’s killed three people in Hawkins, will he be too much for her? Or will her own experiences fighting Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer have her better prepared for round 2 as well?
Will Nancy End Up with Steve, Jonathan, or No One?
The kids of Hawkins contain multitudes. Sure, they’ve spent their formative years fighting monsters from another dimension. But they still have to deal with all the other issues of growing up. For Nancy and Steve that has meant navigating their complicated love lives. (Or, in Steve’s case, non-existent love life at times.) But could they each find love with one another? Stranger Things 4 Volume One is making us question if there will be a Nancy and Steve reunion while highlighting Jonathan and Nancy’s problems during their long-distance relationship. Will Nancy leave Jonathan for Steve, or stay with her Byers boyfriend? Or will she end up without either of them? If Nancy survives Vecna, she will be heading off to school after all.
How Will Hopper, Joyce, and Murray Escape Russia?
Hopper’s experiences in Hawkins helped him survive his Russian cage fight with the Demogorgon long enough for Murray and Joyce to let him and “Enzo” escape. But none of them have actually broken out of the prison yet. And even if they do, there’s no obvious way for them to get out of Kamchatka and back to the US. Yuri’s plane crashed, and a bunch of high-level fugitives can’t exactly book a commercial flight out of the USSR. They’ll need to figure out some kind of travel to secretly escape the country.
Do they have any Russian friends who can help them? They probably don’t, but Enzo (real name Dmitri) might. Branded a traitor, he will likely need to get him and his family out of the USSR just as much as Hopper, Joyce, and Murray need to. Hopefully they can find someone a lot more trustworthy than Yuri to help them escape.
How Old Is the Upside Down?
Stranger Things has never delved into the nature of the Upside Down, only revealing that it’s a dark parallel mirror dimension of the real world. But those impacted by its existence are starting to ask questions about it. And while we learned how Vecna ended up being its five-star general, we still have no answers to Dustin’s question about how old that sinister realm really is. Has the Upside Down always existed? Did it only come into being when people did? Is the Upside Down thousands of years old like Dustin mused? Or is the Upside Down’s origins far more recent? The answer to this question could tell us everything about this evil world.
Why Is the Upside Down’s Timeline Stuck in 1983?
The Upside Down’s age isn’t the only time related question raised by Stranger Things 4. Nancy discovered that—at least to her and her friends—it mirrors the real world exactly how it was on the day Will Byers went into the Upside Down. Does that mean Will was the first person to enter the Upside Down since Henry Creel in 1959? Why does the presence of a single person matter so much to the state of that realm? What, if anything, could alter the Upside Down’s own timeline? Or is that frozen time in 1983 nothing more than a trick? Could the Upside Down be messing with time to mess with Nancy’s plans? There’s so many questions that we hope Stranger Things 4 Volume Two answers.
What Did Will Paint for Mike?
Look, we get it. Forget only worrying about the lives of our favorite Hawkins denizens, Vecna and the Upside Down are a threat to the entire planet. Existence as we know it hangs in the balance. There are literally no bigger questions than what Eleven and her friends can do to save the world. And yet, we care just as much about learning exactly what Will painted for Mike.
Can you really blame us? It was important enough Will brought it with him to the airport to meet Mike. Then, while soldiers attacked his home, Will made sure to take it with him as he fled. What did Will paint?! Why does he care about it so much?! We need to know the truth about Will’s painting! Vecna can kill everyone and bring eternal darkness to the world and we’d be fine so long as he opens up Will’s painting.
Stranger Things 4 Volume Two will arrive on July 1, so hopefully we will get answers to our burning questions.
