For a show that just brought its story to a definitive close, Stranger Things isn’t done expanding its universe. While Season 5 marked the end of the live-action series, Netflix has confirmed that there are more episodes — a whole new season, in fact — coming.
The upcoming series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will bring an entirely new run of adventures, expanding the main series and bringing back all the main characters: Eleven, Will, Max, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas, along with other characters from the flagship series.
Set during the winter of 1985, between seasons 2 and 3, the animated series revisits the height of the show’s mythology-heavy era, when the Upside Down was still a looming mystery and Hawkins hadn’t yet descended into full-blown chaos.
Watch the official announcement trailer below:
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Tales From ’85 builds directly onto the existing timeline. The series follows the Hawkins gang as it confronts new threats emerging from the Upside Down, introducing previously unseen creatures and scenarios that add further depth to the show’s already dense lore.
By design, for many it will feel like a “missing chapter” — something that always could have happened, even if it was never shown on screen.
The Duffer Brothers have cited classic '80s Saturday morning cartoons as a key influence, with showrunner and executive producer Eric Robles pointing to The Real Ghostbusters as the project’s creative “north star.” The result is a 3D animated TV series that allows for bigger monsters, stranger visuals, and more frequent encounters than the live-action series could reasonably sustain.
Still, the premise raises an unavoidable question.
By inserting entirely new adventures into the established timeline, the series will inevitably leave fans wondering why none of these events were ever mentioned from Season 3 onward. With so much at stake in the later seasons, it’s fair to ask how these encounters slipped through the cracks. Whether Tales From ’85 addresses that disconnect or simply asks viewers to accept it as part of the expanded canon remains to be seen.
The series is set to release sometime this year, though Netflix has yet to announce a specific premiere date. What is clear, however, is that Stranger Things isn’t content to let its world go quiet. Hawkins and the Upside Down alike still have stories left to tell.
Are you excited about Stranger Things: Tales From '85? Let us know in the comments down below!
