Credit: NetflixThe end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026 marked a rocky few months for Stranger Things. By this point, it’s fair to say that most fans have watched Season 5 and are likely fully aware of the backlash it faced throughout its run, particularly for its finale, “The Rightside Up.”
Season 5 was easily the most anticipated of the five seasons, but for many, it was a massive disappointment. Some fans were so angry that they launched an online petition demanding an extended cut from Netflix, while others claimed the ending was fake and that a new episode would follow. This turned into the viral theory (or hoax) dubbed “Conformity Gate.”
However, while the main series has ended, Stranger Things isn’t finished. Since Season 5 premiered in November, we’ve already had a new tie-in novel, the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 expansion pack, and the asymmetrical multiplayer game Dead by Daylight’s second Stranger Things chapter. Now, there’s even more content in the works.
New Stranger Things Content
Recently, it was confirmed that the Broadway version of the stage play The First Shadow has been filmed for a future Netflix release. A live-action Stranger Things spinoff that will explore the “briefcase rock” introduced during the Season 5 finale is also in development.
There are no release dates for either of those upcoming projects; however, the first Stranger Things spinoff arrives on Netflix this week, on April 23.
Set between seasons 2 and 3 of the flagship show, the 3D animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 (2026) brings back all the main characters (voiced by an entirely new cast), including Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max.
Showrunner Eric Robles describes the show as a “lost season”, telling Empire in February, “We wanted to go back to Hawkins and feel like a lost season,” adding that the series focuses on “when the kids weren’t trying to save the world — they were just trying to save the town.”
Watch the second official trailer for Tales From ’85 below:
Related: Netflix Confirms Official Changes to ‘Stranger Things’ After Season 5 Backlash
Now, Netflix India has released the first six minutes of the pilot ahead of its premiere.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.
The episode opens with a scientist in a hazmat suit looking for a small creature in a snowy forest in Hawkins. When he catches up, he eviscerates it with a flamethrower. Then the iconic title sequence begins with the familiar score, which is interrupted by a new sound and the new, vibrant-colored title. The title of the episode is revealed as “Welcome to Hawkins, New Kid,” which presumably refers to the new character Nikki Baxter (Odessa A’zion).
The whole gang’s here — Mike (Luca Diaz), Nancy (Alessandra Antonelli), Karen (Alysia Reiner), Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), Lucas (Elisha Williams), Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Jim (Brett Gipson), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Will (Ben Plessala), and Jonathan (voice actor unknown). We also hear that signature Stranger Things ’80s synth playing.
The voice cast also includes Jeremy Jordan as Steve Harrington, Janeane Garofalo as Anna Baxter, Lou Diamond Phillips as Daniel Fischer, Valeria Rodriguez as Rosario, Jack Griffo as Jeff, and Robert Englund, who appeared in Season 4 as Victor Creel, this time as Cosmo.
You can watch the full first six minutes of the new series below:
Related: Is ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ Canon? Here’s the Answer
While the new series certainly looks very promising, viewers may struggle to get to grips with a new cast voicing these beloved characters. As for those creatures, whose presence seemingly makes little sense given that Eleven closed the gateway to the Upside Down at the end of Season 2, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, Robles revealed how he’d discovered “loopholes” in the main series to allow for the introduction of new monsters:
“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.”
Fans have struggled to accept the fact that the series takes place between seasons 2 and 3 and introduces new characters and monsters, with many feeling that it breaks canon with its live-action counterpart. But we’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the series is like.
Either way, Tales From ’85 replaces the main series as the newest Stranger Things addition. And while none of the original actors have returned, according to recent reports, a spinoff titled Stranger Things: The Storyteller and the Mage is also in the works at Netflix, with Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard expected to reprise their roles as Eleven and Mike.
Per Netflix, the official logline for Tales From ’85 reads:
“In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading. Our heroes Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights, and quiet days. But beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened. Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely? Our heroes must race to solve this mystery and save Hawkins in this new story set in the Stranger Things universe.”
The series will premiere on Netflix on April 23.
The first two episodes were screened in select U.S. theaters on April 18.
Stranger Things Seasons 1 — 5
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 5 are now streaming on Netflix.
Stranger Things Season 5 stars Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/Henry Creel), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).
Are you excited about Tales From ’85? What do you think about the new cast taking over these iconic characters? Let us know in the comments below!
