Stranger Things Season 3 will take place one year after the events of the last season in 1985, according to executive producer Shawn Levy. Levy also revealed that the popular "Dad Steve" story arc will continue into the new season, which has fans of the hit Netflix show excited. The show took home two Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards over the weekend for Favorite TV Show and star Millie Bobby Brown won Favorite TV Actress.
The cast and crew were on hand in Los Angeles for a PaleyFest panel, which is where executive producer Shawn Levy revealed the news about the 1985 setting as well as the continuation of the "Dad Steve" story arc. When pressed for further information about Season 3, Levy was tight-lipped, but he did offer up some more information on the Steve Harrington character. Apparently the "Dad Steve" storyline was an accident during the course of Stranger Things Season 2. Levy had this to say.
"We'll definitely get to see some more of Steve Harrington in season three, and I'll just say we won't be abandoning the Dad Steve magic. I don't want to say much more, but I literally feel that we were walking along, and we stumbled onto a gold mine with Dad Steve."
As for how "Dad Steve" will continue his story now that he has aged out of high school is a mystery, but Steve Harrington will be returning in a big way for Stranger Things Season 3. The character pretty much got a raw deal during the last season, getting cheated on, dumped, and then getting the crap beat out of him. However, the character became one of the most beloved on the show for his heroic actions and big brother instincts while helping Dustin.
Some fans have speculated that Steve Harrington will join forces with Hopper and become a young police trainee that later becomes deputy. This is an interesting theory and it seems quite possible, but it does seem a little on the obvious side, which is something that the Duffer Brothers have shied away from in the past, unless it's a trope from a popular 80s movie or TV show. Actually, on second thought, this is probably the best theory out there for Steve Harrington continuing his "Dad" story arc.
Stranger Things Season 3 is still pretty far away at this point, with many fans hoping that it's delivered to Netflix by the end of 2018. That seems pretty unlikely at this time though and a safer bet is sometime in 2019. The young cast just renegotiated their contracts, earning them all a well-deserved raise along with the adult cast as well. You can check out some more of what happened during the Stranger Things PaleyFest panel over at The Hollywood Reporter.