Credit: NetflixIt seems Stranger Things fans aren’t done with sharing their theories. Unless you’ve been trapped in the Upside Down since Christmas, you’ll be familiar with “Conformity Gate”, the fan theory that went viral following the divisive Season 5 finale premiere on December 31.
What Was Conformity Gate All About?
Known also as the “fake ending theory”, Conformity Gate claimed that the epilogue in “The Rightside Up” wasn’t real and that Netflix would drop a real finale in the days that followed.
January 7 was floated around as a date for the premiere. That didn’t happen, so many fans became convinced that One Last Adventure was “Chapter 9” in the guise of a documentary. That came on January 12 and was as promised: a behind-the-scenes Season 5 deep dive.
But what did this theory entail? There were a few variations, but Conformity Gate ultimately claimed that the epilogue — everything that takes place 18 months after the Hawkins gang defeats Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) — was a fabricated reality created by the dark wizard.
It Wasn’t the Only Weird Stranger Things Theory
However, some fans were disappointed with the entire episode — not just the epilogue. Some even hated the entire season. This led to fans launching a petition demanding an extended cut from Netflix. It wound up getting hundreds of thousands of signatures from angry fans.
Those let down by Season 5, whether it was the whole season or just the finale, came up with another theory: that the entire Stranger Things series is one big D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) campaign. As unbelievable as that sounds, it’s surprisingly easy to piece everything together given that the show repeatedly uses the iconic tabletop game as a reference point.
But it’s just not the case. The finale leaves us with only one unanswered question: Is Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) alive or dead? Her boyfriend Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard) shares his own theory that she survived the explosion in the Upside Down, using D&D to explain how it might have all happened. Now, a similar theory is quickly latching itself onto Tales From ’85.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85
Tales From ’85 is the upcoming 3D animated series set between seasons 2 and 3 of the flagship series, with all the main characters back. Recently, the first trailer premiered online, but it did little to ease the minds of fans concerned with how the series is able to introduce new characters, monsters, and events that were never mentioned from Season 3 onwards.
Watch the trailer for Tales From ’85 below:
Related: Netflix Confirms Official Changes to ‘Stranger Things’ After Season 5 Backlash
Concerns With Stranger Things Canon
Why didn’t any of the characters mention their 1985 adventures? It’s a fair question, but the short answer is that this is a new show that didn’t exist before, in the same way that Star Wars: The Clone Wars hadn’t been developed at the time the prequel trilogy was releasing in theaters, yet asked us to believe that its events transpired off screen between those films.
While concerns are valid, Tales From ’85 showrunner and executive producer Eric Robles has already offered something of an explanation — at least as to why there are new monsters.
Related: Is ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ Canon? Here’s the Answer
Storytelling “Loopholes”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, Robles revealed how he’d found “loopholes” to create new monsters despite the Upside Down being sealed off from Hawkins during this gap between seasons.
“I dissected the [main live-action] show, looking for any loopholes. I found a few of ’em. And then I found this one idea that I was just like, ‘Oh s—! I think that’s it.’ What is this big idea? Hawkins Lab science meets Upside Down matter. There’s a chain reaction to the creatures that are in our world and the things that are popping up.”
Now, as we can see in the trailer, those monsters aren’t from the shadow dimension, but are rather somehow created from Upside Down matter. That explains the new creatures at least.
Another Theory Has Emerged
Still, why haven’t the characters ever mentioned any of this before? Well, some fans now think it’s because Tales From ’85 is… nothing more than a D&D campaign, with Mike “The Storyteller” Wheeler (voiced by Luca Diaz) at the helm.
This theory seems to stem largely from something Mike says at the start of the trailer: “The big snowstorm is coming next week — that’s when we’ll start the campaign.” Some are now convinced that this must mean that Tales From ’85 is nothing more than a D&D campaign, which would explain how it took place between seasons 2 and 3 and wasn’t mentioned again.
In a Reddit thread that discusses whether or not the show is canon, one fan writes, “I have little faith [in Tales From ’85], but I think it will be fun. That’s what I’m going for. Heard them say it’s supposed to be canon, but I’m going to view [it] as it isn’t. If it turns out to be a dream or a D&D campaign and not real, even better.”
On another thread, one fan says, “I think that Tales From ’85 will adapt the ‘it was all a campaign’ theory, and that is how they will fit it into the story without messing up anything in seasons 3-5. In the trailer Mike says, ‘We’ll wait until the snow storm, then we’ll start the campaign.’ It would be a cool way of making the new seasons canon, but not messing up the main show’s story.”
Over on YouTube, Filmstocked also suggests Tales From ’85 could be a D&D campaign, although suggests that some elements may have happened:
Danbo puts a similar theory forward, citing Conformity Gate and how Mike, like everyone else, is still trapped in Vecna’s reality and is recalling events from 1985 that never happened:
Taking all the talk about canon into account, it’s worth noting that the Duffer brothers have said that Tales From ’85 is heavily inspired by ’80s Saturday morning cartoons. Robles doubled down on this in an interview with Deadline last year, citing The Real Ghostbusters as a major influence in setting the show’s tone and visual design.
“It all went back to The Real Ghostbusters,” he said. “It was silly but had a handful of dark, creepy episodes and we just kept talking about that. That became the north star for us.”
While the Ghostbusters cartoon acknowledges the lore of the original 1984 film, it essentially breaks away from the continuity of the films and creates its own timeline.
Tales From ’85 Is Coming Soon
“Welcome back to Hawkins in the winter of 1985, where the original characters face new monsters — and a paranormal mystery — in this epic animated series,” Netflix’s blurb reads.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 stars Brett Gipson (Jim Hopper), Luca Diaz (Mike Wheeler), Brooklyn Davey Norstedt (Eleven), Braxton Quinney (Dustin Henderson), Elisha Williams (Lucas Sinclair), Ben Plessala (Will Byers), Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Max Mayfield), and Jeremy Jordan (Steve Harrington), and Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamond Phillips in undisclosed roles.
It premieres on Netflix on April 23. Netflix hasn’t confirmed the number of episodes yet.
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 5 are now streaming on Netflix.
Are you excited about Tales From ’85? What do you think of the new trailer? Let us know in the comments!