'Stranger Things 4' Has Big Blockbuster Energy

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( summer preview [Stranger Things 4 Has Big Blockbuster Energy]( The Netflix smash was once a TV show that paid homage to films released decades ago. This season, it’s threatening to become a series of those films. Photo: Courtesy of Netflix This Memorial Day weekend, two major franchises connected to the year 1986 aim to capture the attention of long-weekending Americans. One is Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, which its star, Tom Cruise, [recently said]( he would never have allowed to open anywhere other than in theaters. The other is the first volume of [Stranger Things 4](, the retro Netflix juggernaut that will follow up this weekend’s batch of episodes with two more supersize installments on July 1. Set in the spring of 1986, a few months before Top Gun’s release, this season was always going to be a streaming event; Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s most valuable original properties, if not the most valuable. But it’s also a series that has as much reverence for the mainstream sci-fi and horror flicks of the 1980s as Cruise has for doing his own stunts. [Read The Story »]( Devour pop culture with us. [Subscribe now](for unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. The Latest TV Recaps • [Stranger Things:]( Save the Cheerleader • [Stranger Things:]( Proof of Life • [Stranger Things:]( Making Connections • [Stranger Things:]( Running Up That Hill • [Obi-Wan Kenobi:]( Our Only Hope [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like 1. [The Horniest Decade: A Taxonomy Why did the early aughts have such weird sexual energy?]( By Gabriela Claymore and Julia Gray 2. [James Corden, Auteur Director, Won Late Night This Week Plus Desus & Mero & Jerrod Carmichael’s strong greenroom energy.]( By Bethy Squires 3. [What to Watch and Stream This Memorial Day Weekend Travel the many multiverses, visit the Upside Down, check out Tom Cruise’s and Channing Tatum’s abs, and more this three-day weekend.]( By Savannah Salazar 4. [‘How to Murder Your Husband’ Writer Convicted of Murdering Husband Not a How to Get Away With Murder writer, clearly.]( By Rebecca Alter [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 1-Across, Four Letters: Song danced to with flailing arms Photo-Illustration: Vulture Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. [Top Gun: Maverick]( is now in theaters. This time around, the franchise’s melancholy overtones are more apparent, and the film reads as a eulogy for Maverick and, by extension, for Cruise himself. [Read more from Vulture]( Next week at Union Hall Vulture’s weekly comedy show, Pretty Major, will feature Jay Jurden, Nico Carney, Rachel Kaly, Lili Michelle, and Zach Zimmerman. [Buy tickets here.]( Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY Introducing Dinner Party, a lively new evening newsletter about everything that just happened. [Sign up]( to get it every weeknight. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved