'Stranger Things' season 3 to be "darker," according to show's producer

We’re still recovering from the ups and downs of Season 2 of Stranger Things, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been anxiously awaiting the show’s highly anticipated third season.

Read more: ‘Stranger Things’ actor reveals one fan-favorite is dead in season 3

In a new interview, the show’s executive producer and director Shawn Levy and star David Harbour recently sat with Deadline to talk about the show’s third season.

While details have been kept pretty quiet, Levy has teased that fans should expect a much darker take on the show, saying:

“[It’s] definitely going to get darker still, places that I think audiences are going to really love,” Levy revealed. “It’s got so much heart and humor.”

Levy then added that the new season is “shaping up really, really well.”

Harbour also teased that the show will be taking some inspiration from some “great films” that were released in 1985.

“If you’re a real fan of Stranger Things and you really want to know,” Harbour said. “I would go look at the great films that were released in ’85, of which there were many, and just go down that list and think of the possibilities that we could be going with. I think it is a specific season to 1985, and so you’ll see references to that.”

Harbour also shared that the forthcoming season will be a bit more experimental than in years past, saying:

“We’re experimenting a lot this season, and we’re taking risks, and I hope that they pay off but they are risks.” Harbour shared. “We’re going into territories we’ve never been to before, and it’s exciting.”

What’s more? Harbour mentioned that fans will get to see a new side of everyone’s favorite Chief of Police, Jim Hopper.

“We had a little softer season with Jim in Season 2.” Harbour said. “where he was really working off these fatherly instincts and understanding a responsibility that was larger than himself, and I think one of the things that we missed from Season 1 was this guy who goes into government facilities and punches people in the face. He’s not a doofus, but he’s a bit of a Columbo character.”

Harbour continued on to say:

“There was a sort of swashbuckling guy that we put on the back burner,” Harbour added. “So I think we’ll see a little more of the swashbuckling Hopper you may have liked from Season 1. It’s almost like [Season] 1 plus two, equals three. It’s like you have this third character now, who goes back to the swashbuckling guy of Season 1, but also has behind him this adopted daughter who he loves very much, so it’s really cool.”

Season 3 can’t come soon enough!

There’s not a whole lot of information regarding the show’s third season, but we do know that the cast will be adding three new characters into the Hawkins mix—an “alternative girl,” Cary Elwes playing the Hawkins mayor, a “handsome, slick and sleazy” ’80s politician and Jake Busey playing a local journalist with “questionable morals.”

As previously reported, the show’s producers recently shared that Season 3 will take place during the summer of 1985, a year after Season 2. Plus, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Mike (Finn Wolfhard), as well as Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Max (Sadie Sink), will begin the season as couples.

The best news, though? Producer and director Shawn Levy tells fans that Steve (Joe Keery) will have a bigger role in Season 3—and dad Steve is BACK.

“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,” Levy said.

The third season of Stranger Things is set to debut sometime in 2019.