After three years without new episodes, there has been a lot of anticipation from fans heading into the fourth season of Stranger Things. The creators of the series, Ross and Matt Duffer, have been working hard with the show's cast and crew to keep all of season 4's biggest surprises a secret until the new episodes arrive on Netflix, and up to this point, they'd been doing a great job. Unfortunately, mistakes were made when it came to the show's promotion, as a tie-in board game wound up giving away many major plot points.
Per THR, an official Monopoly board game has been made to help promote the new season of Stranger Things. Images from the game's cards explicitly reveal plot twists and other surprises that have not yet been publicly revealed. The Duffer Brothers were said to have had a "total meltdown" over the leak as they were reportedly not consulted about the Monopoly game. It's not entirely clear if the images were leaked from a version of the game not yet meant to be released or if they had been inadvertently put on store shelves early by a retailer. Only older versions can be found at major stores online though there are eBay listings for the updated season 4 version.
Things like this have happened in the past. The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau is someone who went to great lengths to avoid having spoilers leak for the Star Wars series, notably the introduction of Grogu, aka Baby Yoda. Keeping that character reveal a surprise meant that no advance merchandise could be created to coincide with the premiere of the Disney+ series. The downside was that there were countless fans flocking to the stores looking for Baby Yoda plush toys, only to end up buying fan-made versions on Etsy as no official ones were available.
Stranger Things 4 Is the Penultimate Season
It has already been announced that Stranger Things season 5 will serve as the final season of the show. There's a good chance the franchise could end up continuing on Netflix with a spinoff or sequel series, but for now, fans can look forward to the penultimate season hitting Netflix this summer after a long hiatus. You can read the official synopsis for season 4 of Stranger Things below.
"It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. 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 4 will consist of two volumes. Volume 1 will debut on May 27, 2022, while Volume 2 will follow on July 1. You can watch the first three seasons streaming on Netflix.