Stranger things officially closed out its main storyline last year with a finale that split viewers, drawing both praise for its scale and criticism for its tonal choices. Netflix is now returning to Hawkins with a different approach, releasing the first trailer for an animated spinoff titled stranger things: tales from ’85. The series is set to premiere on April 23, 2026, and positions itself as a companion piece rather than a direct continuation of the live-action ending.
Set during the winter of 1985, the animated series takes place between seasons two and three of the original show. The familiar rhythms of small-town life are front and center at first: snow-covered streets, kids stuck indoors with board games and Dungeons & Dragons, and relationships that are still tentative rather than fully formed. Mike and Eleven are navigating early romance under Hopper’s watchful eye, Lucas and Max are growing closer, and Steve is still defined by unresolved feelings from his past. This quieter focus appears intentional, using animation to linger on character dynamics that the live-action series often had to move past quickly.
That sense of normalcy does not last. As expected for anything carrying the stranger things name, new threats begin to surface on the outskirts of town. The trailer hints at a collection of monsters that feel deliberately different from the show’s earlier villains, including oversized spiders, smaller creatures resembling the Mind Flayer, and a pumpkin-headed figure that leans more toward fantasy-horror than body horror. Whether these dangers are remnants of the Upside Down or something else entirely is left unanswered, but the tone suggests an episodic structure built around contained threats rather than a single world-ending crisis.
From a production standpoint, tales from ’85 keeps the franchise firmly under the guidance of its original architects. Matt and Ross Duffer remain involved as executive producers alongside Shawn Levy, while Eric Robles, whose background is primarily in animation, takes on showrunning duties. Robles has emphasized that the animated format allows for smaller, more focused stories that still carry genuine risk for the characters, without being constrained by the logistics of live-action production.
The voice cast blends new performers with recognizable names, assigning younger-sounding actors to the core group while introducing additional characters voiced by established film and television actors. This choice reinforces the idea that the series is meant to stand on its own, even as it relies heavily on nostalgia and established relationships.
As Netflix continues to expand its most recognizable properties, stranger things: tales from ’85 feels less like an attempt to undo a divisive conclusion and more like an effort to explore unused space within the timeline. Whether audiences embrace this quieter, animated detour will likely depend on how well it balances character-driven storytelling with the sense of danger that originally defined the franchise.
