Thought we were done with the Upside Down? Think again: It's back to Hawkins, Indiana we go with Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, the animated spinoff of the Netflixsci-fi juggernaut Stranger Things, which capped its five-season run on the streamer with a very action-packed (albeit polarizing, especially regarding Eleven’s ambiguous ending) series finale on New Year's Eve 2025.
The first screen spin-off in the Hawkins universe, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will reunite fans with beloved characters like Eleven, Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin and Max, just in cartoon form. The series is executive produced by original Stranger Things creatorsMatt and Ross Duffer, who have called the animated spin-off "a dream."
In a statement to Netflix’s Tudum, the Duffers said: “We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realised has been absolutely thrilling...The scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues…”
But that's not the only spinoff reportedly in store for fans, as the Duffer brothers have also teased a live-action extension of the Stranger Things universe. With Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 officially now on Netflix, here's everything you need to know about all of the Stranger Things spinoff reportedly in the works.
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Stranger Things: Tales From ’85
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
“In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading,” the official synopsis for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 reads. “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 untold story set in the Stranger Things universe.”
According to showrunner Eric Robles, the spin-off expands the mythology of Hawkins while keeping the vibe playfully nostalgic, taking place between the second and third seasons of the live-action original, in the winter of 1985.
Speaking with Empire Magazine, Robles explained: “We wanted to go back to Hawkins and feel like a lost season.” The TV exec also added that the new show will hark back to the franchise's early days, “when the kids weren’t trying to save the world — they were just trying to save the town.”
Related: Is the ‘Stranger Things’ Cinematic Universe Real?
Who's in the Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 cast?
Let's get the bad news out of the way, shall we? No, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp nor any of the other original Stranger Things cast members are reprising their roles for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.
But good news, that just means that you have the opportunity to meet an entirely new vocal cast as they take on characters you already know and love: Brooklyn Davey Norstedt stars as Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Ej (Elisha) Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Ben Plessala as Will and Brett Gipson as Hopper. (Additional voices include Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips.)
Is Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 out yet?
Yes, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 premiered on Netflix on Friday, April 23. Graciously, unlike the split-release nature of the last season of Stranger Things, all 10 episodes dropped in one fell swoop and are already available to stream. (Here's what fans are saying so far about the animated series.)
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Spin-Off Novel Sells Out on Day 1
Untitled Live-Action Stranger Things Spinoff
(L to R) Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things: Season 5. Courtesy of Netflix/Netflix © 2025© 2025 Netflix, Inc.
Aside from Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, the Duffers are also reportedly developing a live-action Stranger Things spinoff for Netflix, though few concrete details have been released thus far from the powers that be. Here's what we do know: "It's different characters, different town, different story. But it's connected in some ways to the flagship," Ross Duffer revealed in a December 2025 interview with Comic Book Resources. "We really wanted [season 5 of Stranger Things] to be the end of the story of Hawkins and the Upside Down and these characters and close the door."
The new show will include a detail from the old one, though: the rock Henry Creel finds in that briefcase in the final season of Stranger Things. "The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you’re going to understand it," Matt Duffer told Variety in January. "But it’s a completely different mythology. So it’s not a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer or anything like that. It’s very fresh and very new, but yes, it will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining."
"It’s an idea we’ve had for years and something we’re just really excited and passionate about," Ross Duffer shared with The Hollywood Reporter. "We won’t be showrunning that show, but we’ll be heavily involved. So, as the new year comes around, we’re going to start spending more time on that. Hopefully it’s something announced soon-ish.
Related: Every ‘Stranger Things’ Season, Ranked
Who's in the cast of the untitled live-action Stranger Things spinoff?
So far, no casting pronouncements have been made regarding the Duffers' live-action Stranger Things spinoff. However, unlike the Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 animated spinoff, don't expect to hear from Eleven, Hopper and the rest of the Hawkins gang. "This is the end of the story for these characters of Hawkins, for the Upside Down," Ross Duffer said to THR about the Stranger Things season finale, which dropped on Netflix on New Year's Eve. Rather, the planned live-action series will feature "a different decade and different characters, but of course, still connected to the Stranger Things universe."
However, it seems like an O.G. Stranger Things star also has intel about the spinoff. Likening the planned series to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, Finn Wolfhard told Variety that the live-action show is "sort of an anthology and different tones but similar universe or same universe. I think set in different places and all tied together through this mythology of the Upside Down. Don’t even talk about Hawkins. Don’t have any mention of our characters," he joked.
"They were toying around with ideas in case Netflix wanted them. I’m sure they do, and I’m sure it will happen, but there’s nothing official," the actor added. "I think the coolest way, the way that I would do it, there has to be labs everywhere. If there was one in Hawkins, there’s one in Russia. Where else could they be?”
When is the untitled live-action Stranger Things spinoff coming out?
A release window has not yet been announced for the live-action Stranger Things spinoff, but Parade will keep you posted as soon as we know timeframes!
Is Stranger Things: The First Shadow still on Broadway?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 22: The cast take a bow onstage during Stranger Things: The First Shadow - Broadway Opening Night at Marquis Theatre on April 22, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Netflix)Getty Images
The first expansion of the Stranger Things universe was actually made for the stage, not the screen: Written by Kate Refry from an original story by the Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorn, Stranger Things: The First Shadow had its official opening night on April 22, 2025 at the Marquis Theatre in New York City and has been playing on Broadway ever since.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow acts both as a prequel to the five-season Netflix series as well as its own standalone story, taking place 20 years before Stranger Things and following Hopper, Joyce Maldonado (later Joyce Byers), Bob Newby and Henry Creel as students.
In 1950s Hawkins, Indiana, “the Creel family seeks a fresh start, especially their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past," reads the play's plot synopsis. "Initially, things go well—he finds friendship and joins the school play. But when a wave of shocking crimes strikes the town, Henry is forced to confront a terrifying truth: is something inside him that connects him to the horrors unfolding around him?”
“As this thrilling mystery races forward, shadows of the past are unleashed, relationships are tested, and the town of Hawkins faces the ultimate question: Can the power of friendship outshine the darkness within?” the description continues.
Next, Hey Mouthbreathers, We’ve Got the 75 Best ‘Stranger Things’ Quotes by Character—From Eleven to Eddie
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