Following the hugely divisive Season 5 finale, a finale that was more than a decade in the making, Stranger Things returns for an all-new adventure. And with a few changes. While we may have had to wait far too long for the main series of Stranger Things to wrap up, Netflixis already taking us back to The Upside Down with the new trailer for the animated prequel, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85. As well as switching from live-action to animation, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will also give the likes of Eleven, Mike, and Hopper different voices, with the prequel boasting an entirely different cast to its live-action counterpart. Thus, Brooklyn Davey Norstedt will voice Eleven, alongside Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Benjamin Plessala as Will, and Brett Gipson as Hopper. Additionally, Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamond Phillips will also join the Stranger Things fray. Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is now due to debut on Netflix on April 23, 2026, with Eric Robles (Fanboy & Chum Chum) serving as showrunner, while Flying Bark Productions (What If…?, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) tackles the animation. You can check out the new trailer and official synopsis for Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 below…
The year is 1985, it’s a freezing winter in Hawkins, and our heroes are about to embark on an epic journey where “the original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.

What Does the Future Hold for ‘Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’?

But what of the Duffer Brothers? Have they now frantically run away from the Netflix franchise and hidden at their new studio, Paramount, following the hugely divisive Stranger Things finale? Not at all, as both Matt and Ross Duffer will serve as executive producers. The creatives have several more spin-offs in mind, with Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 being the first, and promising to once again tap into 80s nostalgia. “When we started talking about, was there anything else we wanted to do with ‘Stranger Things,’ this was one of our first ideas,” said Ross Duffer of the project, with Matt Duffer adding, “The idea was kind of to evoke a feeling of an ’80s cartoon.”

While currently unconfirmed, it has now been heavily theorized that Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will launch its own saga, with investigative fans believing that the animated prequel has already been renewed for Season 2. Following the release of the behind the scenes documentary One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, fans are now convinced that a recent leak was correct – meaning the animated spin-off Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will get two seasons in 2026. So, while this may not be the return that many fans and “Conformity Gate” believers were hoping for, they can at least cling to the knowledge that Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Max will be back for further adventures.

Franchise(s)

Stranger Things

Brooklyn Davey Norstedt

Eleven

Jolie Hoang-Rappaport

Max