Stranger Things season 4: Fans are spotting clues in first stills from series

‘WHERE ARE THEY WHY IS NANCY NAMED RUTH?’ asked one person

Netflix has dropped the first photos from Stranger Things season four, which is arriving on the platform in May.

The hit sci-fi series has been away from screens since 2019, having left viewers on a cliffhanger surrounding one of the series’ major characters.

David Harbour’s character Sherriff Hopper had seemingly been killed off at the end of Stranger Things season three – but in posters published in February he was shown to be very much alive.

Hopper features in the new pictures, alongside Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, Maya Hawke, Natalia Dyer, Finn Wolfhard, Charlie Heaton and many more of the original cast.

Fans have already been spotting clues in the pictures. Why, asked one person, is Nancy wearing a name badge with “Ruth” written on it? And what are Joe and Robin at Scoops Ahoy looking so concerned about? And is Dustin... singing?

The new season picks up six months after the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to the town of Hawkins.

Netflix’s synopsis reads: “Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier.

“In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.”

Stranger Things season four is arriving in two parts on Netflix. Volume one premieres on 27 May and volume two arrives on 1 July.