Stranger Things: Tales from 85 | Image: Netflix

Here’s Our First Look at ‘Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’ Animated Spin-off

By Dean Blake - News

Published: 13 Feb 2026

Readtime: 5 min

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There’s a new Stranger Things series in town, and this time it’s pulling from another of the 80’s greatest achievements—the animated cartoon. Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is a fully animated spin-off series telling a brand-new story of psychic powers, multidimensional creatures, and awkward teenagers, coming to Netflix on 23 April, 2026.

The town of Hawkins is under a foot of snow, and Eleven, Mike, and the rest of the gang are taking a much needed break from saving lives by settling down a little bit. But nothing stays safe for long in this world, and they’re quickly pulled back into a mystery involving the Upside Down, and the ongoing machinations of the Mind Flayer.

If you’re keen to learn a bit more about this new animated spin-off, read on!

Watch the ‘Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’ Trailer

What is ‘Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85’ About?

You might be wondering how there’s more Stranger Things coming already, considering we all just celebrated the end of the show’s final season: and considering that the show ended pretty definitively. And, if you’ve been paying attention to the post-series interview tour, you’ll know the Duffer Brothers pretty quickly said they didn’t want to keep making Stranger Things forever. But it seems they want to make it for a little bit longer, at least.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 takes place in 1985—who could have known?—which means it technically takes place between the second and third seasons of the main series. If you’ve forgotten what’s going on in Hawkins at that point, season two ended with Eleven and co. closing a gate to the Upside Down deep in the research labs that had been studying the dark dimension. For the first time in a few years, it looks like there’s going to be no more creatures on the run in Hawkins, and the gang can settle down and get used to being teenagers again.

“(In the first two seasons) the kids were running from government agents and monsters from other dimensions, and then it all just went silent,” showrunner Eric Robles told Tudum. “For Dustin, there’s this sense of, ‘well, what else is there?’, so when something shows up that isn’t normal and feels very Upside Down, there’s a sense of excitement for him.”

That, according to Robles, is where the show begins.

The idea of Tales From ‘85 actually came from the Duffers when they were brainstorming ideas for ways to expand on the universe they’d created, with the idea of exploring a Hawkins at winter break being one of the first ideas the pair came up with. But they couldn’t figure out how to justify bringing the Upside Down back for a mid-quel mini season that the ground never brings up again—so they reached out to Robles, who started diving into the series’ lore and watched old movies until the idea he needed appeared.

“(The Duffer Brothers) have been nothing but supportive by giving us their writers to come in as consultants, making sure that we’re all talking about the show correctly, and making sure that we stay true to the characters,” Robles said.

“One of the many things we talked about was how awesome it would be if you just got to hang out with these kids on these adventures that are not about saving the world. They’re just figuring things out step by step as things get more mysterious.”

That’s not to say there won’t be danger, with Robles noting that he’s taking particular inspiration from Jaws in conceptualising the shows’ new threat: “underneath all that snow, there’s something lurking, and you just never know where that thing’s going to come out and grab you.”

We see a few glimpses of whatever this creature is in the trailer above—it seems to something akin to the series’ famed Demogorgon, but with a mutated twist to it. Colour us intrigued.

Confirmed Cast for ‘Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85’

While the show will be bringing back fan-favourite characters, we’re not necessarily seeing the return of the core Stranger Things cast with Tales from ‘85. Instead, a number of new actors will pick up these animated versions of the series’ mainstay heroes, plus we’ll get a few new characters to hang out with.

Here’s the full cast list as we know it: