Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Stranger Things season three.
If you’re anything like me, you spent a minimum of eight hours this holiday weekend glued to Stranger Things season three. There was a lot of hype going into the sci-fi series’ third installment, but the action-packed, female-powered, Scoops Ahoy-fueled new season did not disappoint. Naturally, we have one big question on the other side of The Battle of Starcourt: What’s next for our favorite residents of Hawkins, Indiana?
For right now, it’s hard to say. The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things‘s creators, have said they’d envisioned the series as a four-season arc—meaning there’s one last adventure with El, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Mike ahead. But the actual details—like the storyline and release date—are still up in the air. (The closest thing we have to a confirmation is a hint from producer Shawn Levy, who says season four is “definitely” happening.)
The gate to the Upside-Down may be closed (for now), but we’re holding out hope that there’s still more Stranger Things on the horizon—and the cast seems to agree. Ahead of a (hopeful) fourth season, Glamour asked Cara Buono (Mrs. Wheeler), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), and Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson) where they hope their characters head next. Showrunners, I hope you’re listening closely.
Karen Wheeler Realizes Her Potential
Karen Wheeler faced a big choice in season three: Give in to her chemistry with resident bad-guy Billy and pursue an affair, or stay loyal to her marriage and family. In the end, she chose the latter—but Cara Buono told Glamour she hopes her character will get more screen time and more opportunities to branch out from her stifled housewife role. “There’s a lot of potential. And it’s funny because when I meet a lot of young fans, they really want to see more of Mrs. Wheeler, too,” she says.
One option: a fresh career outside of the Wheeler residence. “I always thought that Karen was someone who would have gone to law school and be a public defender to give people a voice who didn’t have a voice… or I thought what would be funny is after everything that happens in Hawkins, because people are moving and real estate has really gone down, she becomes a real estate agent! Like, ‘I know things seem a little unstable here, but now’s a great time to buy!’”
Dyer wouldn’t mind teaming up with her onscreen mom for detective work in future episodes, either. “I want to see more of Karen’s stuff! We need more of that just generally in the world, and that’s just ripe for it.”
Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers Try to Make a Long-Distance Relationship Work
Stranger Things season three closed with a series of heartbreaking goodbyes when the Byers family packed up and left Hawkins for good, including the farewell between longtime-couple Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. And the actors who play them, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton, are as in the dark as we are regarding whether Stranger Things‘s OTP will last into a fourth season.
“I’m genuinely interested to see what they are going to do, because when we were filming the end and saying goodbye, that was the question, like are we actually saying goodbye?” Heaton says.
“We don’t know [what will happen for them], and the past two seasons we’ve basically been filming together constantly, and it’s like, ‘Huh, what’s next season going to be like?’” Dyer says. “We’ve been with these characters for three seasons, and we care about them, so I do think whatever happens between them, I hope it’s given time and space and integrity and reality to what they’re going through. I mean, I’m personally invested and interested in Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship, because again, we’ve been creating these characters for years, but I think there’s a relatability to that.”
