“We’re not in Hawkins anymore”—Stranger Things season 4 is coming!

The Stranger Things nation knew there was an announcement coming yesterday, when the official Stranger Things Twitter account tweeted out a mysterious pair of emojis: a clock and an upside-down smily face:

Then there was this creepy image of a nightmare world clock on a Stranger Things Instagram story:

"OOO BOYYYY from StrangerThings"

Yup, something’s definitely up.

That’s a yes.

Now, Netflix has made things official and released a teaser for the upcoming fourth season of the show, which features the show’s familiar logo getting pulled into the Upside Down:

The most interesting part of the teaser comes at the end, with four bells chiming out as the words “We’re not in Hawkins anymore” appear onscreen. Plenty of people have already pointed out that those are the Westminster chimes, a set of four notes used in clocks around the world. The chimes get their name from their use in Big Ben in London. Is the teaser suggesting that our gang of heroes is going international?

That would fit with what we’ve heard about the fourth season so far. “I think the biggest thing that’s going to happen is it’s going to open up a little bit, not necessarily in terms of scale, in terms of special effects, but open up in terms of allowing plotlines into areas outside of Hawkins,” creator Matt Duffer — speaking with his brother and co-creator Ross — said a couple months back. And remember: as we learned in the third season, the Russians are now experimenting with penetrating into the Upside Down. It’s not just a local problem anymore.

Relatedly, the Duffer brothers have signed an exclusive deal with Netflix to make movies and TV shows beyond Stranger Things, according to Variety. “We are absolutely thrilled to continue our relationship with Netflix,” they said in a statement. “Ted Sarandos, Cindy Holland, Brian Wright, and Matt Thunell took a huge chance on us and our show — and forever changed our lives. From our first pitch meeting to the release of Stranger Things 3, the entire team at Netflix has been nothing short of sensational, providing us with the kind of support, guidance, and creative freedom we always dreamed about. We can’t wait to tell many more stories together — beginning, of course, with a return trip to Hawkins!”

I hope they don’t get too distracted by other stuff and give Stranger Things the short shrift. In any case, Sarandos — Netflix’s chief content officer — was pretty psyched about the deal, too. “The Duffer Brothers have captivated viewers around the world with Stranger Things and we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with them to bring their vivid imaginations to other film and series projects our members will love. We can’t wait to see what The Duffer Brothers have in store when they step outside the world of The Upside Down.”

The Duffers are the latest super-creators who have signed big deals with Netflix. Others include Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy and Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss.

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We don’t know when Stranger Things season 4 will premiere, but given how big a success it is for Netflix, I’m sure they’d like it out sooner rather than later.

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