Hilarious Stranger Things Season 3 Promo Video Teases Possible Premiere Date

Stranger Things season 3 will see the pre-teen gang embrace the "poppy fun" of their summer vacation, and where better to do that than at the mall? A hilarious promo video for the upcoming season of the hit Netflix series introduces a groovy set piece: the Starcourt Mall. 

The teaser, uploaded on Monday, is totally '80s, highlighting storefronts like Sam Goody, Waldenbooks, and The Gap as well as a food court that's just "an escalator ride away." Toward the end of the clip, we see Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) working alongside Robin (Stranger Things newcomer Maya Thurman-Hawke) at the Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream shop, suggesting that the bad-boy-turned-good-guy-and-lovable-babysitter will stick around in Hawkins for one last summer before heading off to college. 

In the final moments of the footage, it's announced that the Starcourt Mall is coming to Hawkins, Indiana "next summer" — an apparent wink at when Stranger Things will return for its third season: possibly in the summer of 2019. 

Doing a little digging into the description of the video as it's posted on YouTube, one will find that the shopping center is headed to Hawkins in the summer of 1985, so it's best to take the hint with a grain of salt. After all, Netflix hasn't confirmed an official debut date at this time. 

With the Starcourt Mall serving as a light-and-breezy new setting on the series, Stranger Things season 3 will feel markedly different from the first two installments. Executive producer Shawn Levy once mentioned that the new season isn't "about school," but rather is about "about the swimming pool and campfires and parades and Fourth of July and fireworks," which makes for an easygoing and enjoyable atmosphere. 

But don't let the ice cream cones, fast-food joints, and high-waisted mom jeans on sale at the Starcourt Mall fool you: Stranger Things season 3 will take a dark turn in later episodes, as new "forces of evil" rear their ugly heads in Hawkins. When might that happen? It's anyone's guess, but for now, it looks like a summer 2019 debut is likely.