Has Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill lost its power? This is a question for both Netflix (which has really taken advantage of that scene’s incredible viral moment for its Stranger Things promo) and for Max (Sadie Sink), who in the latest trailer finds herself back in the hazy red Upside Down hellscape from which Kate Bush was supposed to save her.
Max isn’t the only one in trouble in this trailer: the whole Stranger Things gang looks to be in dire straits in the final two episodes of the fourth season. “I have this terrible feeling. It might not work out for us this time,” Robin (Maya Hawke) says in the trailer. Taken with Noah Schnapp’s hint that there are “some deaths” coming in the finale, this is an ominous warning indeed.
As expected, there’s still no indication of a reunion for the four separate factions of characters in this clip. El (Millie Bobby Brown) is well aware that her friends need her, but even though that hefty flashback in Volume I was supposed to trigger a psychic breakthrough, Dr. Brenner insists, “You’re not ready.”
Events appear to unfold in classic Stranger Things fashion. The kids suit up and arm themselves. Nancy’s (Natalia Dyer) got her gun. El is pointing and screaming and getting nosebleeds. Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), gratifyingly, gets to beat up fanatic jock Jason (Mason Dye).
Most interestingly, Will (Schnapp), who took a backseat in Volume I, seems suspiciously dialed in to Vecna’s (Jamie Campbell Bower) plot. Fans have theorized Will might get dragged into the darkness, especially since the Upside Down has been frozen in time since his last visit. But the teaser suggests that even in the right-side-up, young Byers has a direct line to the Big Bad: “He’s not going to stop. Not until he’s taken everyone,” Will explains to Mike (Finn Wolfhard).
Volume II of Stranger Things’ fourth season premieres July 1, 2022.