'Stranger Things' season 2 spoilers: 'Lord of the Rings' actor to play Joyce's new boyfriend; David Harbour teases 'thrilling' new episodes

Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) will have a new man in her life when "Stranger Things" returns for its second season this summer.

Season 2 will center on a new threat in Hawkins, and it will answer a lot of unresolved questions from the previous installment. Aside from tackling Nancy (Natalia Dyer) and Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) complicated relationship, Eleven's (Millie Bobby Brown) mysterious disappearance, and Will's (Noah Schnapp) return from the Upside Down, the upcoming season will also see a number of new faces added to the mix.

"Lord of the Rings" star Sean Astin's casting was announced last year, and his character, named Bob Newby, will be Joyce's new boyfriend. Series creators Matt and Ross Duffer recently spoke with Entertainment Tonight, and while they can't spill more details about Bob yet, they hinted that he has an interesting story arc.

"Sean Astin is a force. He's gonna surprise. He's just an incredible actor and he blows us away every day on set," Ross said, with executive Producer Shawn Levy adding: "Bob is new to our weird Hawkins group, but he's immediately memorable and I think people are going to be very surprised by where that takes them this year."

"Stranger Things" won big at this week's SAG Awards where David Harbour made headlines because of his rousing acceptance speech. In the wake of the show's big weekend, the actor caught up with Vanity Fair, and he said the first five minutes of the script got him very excited. Harbour went on to say that he's looking forward to seeing how the different arcs will play out for all the characters.

"I got the first script of season two, and the first five minutes I was on my feet going, 'Yes! Yes!' Because they open up the world in such a new way," the actor said. "I really do think it's going to be thrilling. And you can tweet at me that I'm an idiot if it's not," he went on to say.

The second season of "Stranger Things" is expected to premiere in mid-July 2017 on Netflix.