Netflix has released a first look at the back half of Stranger Things season four.
The Volume 2 photos (below) include new looks at Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) and the rest of the cast.
The two episodes drop July 1 and span nearly four hours — 408 runs 1 hour, 25 minutes and the finale, 409, will be a whopping 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The move follows up on the first seven episodes of the season, which dropped May 27, and racked up the streamer’s best-ever debut weekend for an English-language series (in other words: aside from Squid Game), delivering 286 million hours viewed.
The staggered release pattern breaks with Netflix’s usual full-season release binge policy, but it gives the streamer the chance to dominate the television pop culture landscape across two major holiday weekends — Memorial Day and Fourth of July.
Volume 1 ended with a twist reveal that sheds light on some of the mythology of the Upside Down world of Hawkins, Indiana, and the final two episodes have been described as massive and cinematic, all leading to a giant showdown set to “punch you right in the heart,” according to executive producer and director Shawn Levy.
The official description for Volume 2 reads: “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.”