Stranger Things 4 volume 2 release date and time — when you can watch

Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield in STRANGER THINGS 4
(Image credit: Netflix)

It's almost time for the Stranger Things 4 volume 2 release date. And, no we're not practicing by listening to Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" on repeat (though it does appear in the first Stranger Things 4 volume 2 trailer.

But when it comes to our excitement to watch Stranger Things 4 volume 2 on Netflix, it feels like we're marching to a very sad ending. While the gang may survive this season (we do know Stranger Things 5 is confirmed) that aforementioned trailer basically screams prepare your Stranger Things 4 deaths lists! Though, in a bit of a spoiler, Stranger Things 4 volume 2 photos just casually spoiled a character's fate.

Hopefully, though, we get all the answers we need, including the 13 Stranger Things 4 questions we have for volume 2. So, without further ado, here's everything you need to watch Stranger Things 4 volume 2 online:

When does Stranger Things 4 volume 2 come out on Netflix?

Stranger Things 4 volume 2 drops on Friday (July 1) at 3 a.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT / 8 a.m. BST. Netflix revealed this when it announced the Stranger Things season 4 release dates.

Stranger Things 4 volume 2 is comprised of episodes 8 and 9. 

Tonight, starting at 11:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 a.m. ET / 7:30 a.m. BST, you'll be able to (sorta) watch Stranger Things 4 volume 2 with some of the cast — virtually. David Harbour, Brett Gelman, Joseph Quinn and Jamie Campbell Bower will all be a part of a live Q&A at Scener

Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 trailers and teasers

The full Stranger Things 4 volume 2 trailer is here, and if you didn't think someone was going to die, I bet you do now.

The voice of Vecna haunts the Stranger Things 4 volume 2 teaser trailer, itself something of an Easter egg. For those who watched to the very end of Stranger Things 4 episode 7's credits, you saw the below clip.

Vecna, speaking to Eleven (back in the flashbacks when El unwittingly aided the escape of 001/Henry Creel, who seems to have caused the Upside Down to exist) says "It is over, Eleven, you have freed me. You can't stop this now," over a series of rapid-fire moments.

Netflix finally released the official version of the clip as a part of Geeked Week.

Stranger Things 4 volume 2 running times

The first report of Stranger Things 4 episode running time was the kind of shocking news that intimidated as much as it potentially annoyed. It all started when Netflix published the news that "Episode 407 is 1 hour, 38 minutes; Episode 408 is around 1 hour, 25 minutes; and 409 is almost two and a half hours."

(L to R) Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, and Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in STRANGER THINGS

(Image credit: Netflix)

The lack of specificity for those last two episodes (which comprise all of Stranger Things 4 volume 2) was something of a red flag that everyone kind of ignored. The finale was, according to some sites we won't shame, "two and a half hours," as the "almost" was erased.

Then, the official Twitter account for the Stranger Things writer's room cleared things up, tweeting "Official finale runtime: 2 hours and 19 minutes."

Stranger Things 4 volume 2 plot

First off, the biggest news of the finale is that we now know who was responsible for The Massacre at Hawkins Lab — and it wasn't Eleven. While El may have freed Henry Creel (aka 001) from the controls that the lab had put in his body, she was an unwitting assistant to Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower)'s killing. Eleven then came to stop Henry Creel, and basically sent him into (or created?) the Upside Down we know and do not really love. 

Now that it seems Vecna is out for revenge and it's up to the kids to stop him. In order to stop him, Eleven will need more of her powers back, as it seems she only got a fraction of her abilities back during her time inside the NINA project, reliving her past.

Jamie Campbell Bower and Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things

(Image credit: Netflix)

And while Dustin and the gang were able to help Steve, Robin and Eddie escape the Upside-Down, Nancy is in fact stuck there after taking a mysterious "fall." Saving her is likely the top priority for Steve (and the rest) in Stranger Things 4 volume 2.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Joyce and Murray finally tracked down Hopper and Dmitri, who just stopped a Demogorgon with a spear through the face. We expect them back in the U.S. ASAP.

For one of us, though, the Stranger Things storyline wasn't the most surprising thing about season 4.

Stranger Things season 4 volume 2 cast

We have a full Stranger Things season 4 cast and character guide so you can get caught up. But expect the regular familiar faces of the younger teens: Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink) and Will (Noah Schnapp). Oh, and since we've been waiting and waiting for this new season, we've put together a look at how the Stranger Things kids have aged over the years.

Speaking of Sink, she's told the press that Stranger Things season 4 will have the highest "stakes" ever for the show. We're wondering if that means The Upside Down is becoming a danger to the whole world, or something entirely different.

Young adults Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Robin (Maya Hawke) will also return, as will Joyce (Winona Ryder, who's one of our picks for best TV moms) and Hopper. 

Stranger Things season 4 also includes Erica (Priah Ferguson), Sam Owens (Paul Reiser), Karen (Cara Buono) and Murray (Brett Gelman).

Eight new cast members have been reported by Variety, starting with the horror icon himself: Robert Englund. Yes, the man behind the Freddy Krueger is coming to Stranger Things. The report notes that Englund is portraying Victor Creel, "a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s."

001/Henry Creel is played by Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd), distracted stoner with a car Argyle is played by Eduardo Franco (Booksmart) and Joseph Quinn (Catherine the Great) is Eddie Munson, who runs The Hellfire Club D&D group, and was targeted by Jason Carver (another new cast member, Mason Dye), the rich kid at school. Nikola Djuricko (Genius) is Yuri, a Russian smuggler.

Then, there's Grace Van Dien as Chrissy, Hawkins High's lead cheerleader and the most popular girl in school. One of Vecna's victims, but E! News reports that Ross and Matt Duffer want to do more with Van Dien, after saying they regret killing her off. Chrissy could come back in a flashback or a dream (or nightmare) sequence experienced by Eddie Munson (the last person to see her alive), or her boyfriend Jason Carver.

Other new additions: Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones) is playing Dmitri, a Russian prison guard, who Hopper became friends with. Sherman Augustus (Into the Badlands) is Lt. Colonel Sullivan, who is out to squash the evil out of Hawkins for good. 

Brenner (Matthew Modine), who "raised" Eleven in the Hawkins National Laboratory, is also back, helping Eleven get her powers back.

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Henry T. Casey
Managing Editor (Entertainment, Streaming)

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.