{"id":264924,"date":"2026-01-03T09:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T09:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/264924\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T09:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T09:44:12","slug":"whats-next-for-stranger-things-heres-what-we-know-about-the-upcoming-spinoff-series-and-tales-from-85","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/264924\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s next for &#8216;Stranger Things?&#8217; Here&#8217;s what we know about the upcoming spinoff series and &#8216;Tales From &#8217;85&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"a731d8f4-38d7-4f8c-93a3-0b32302c7980\">The <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/news\/live\/stranger-things-series-finale\" target=\"_blank\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/news\/live\/stranger-things-series-finale\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; series finale<\/a> has been and gone, meaning one of the most talked-about <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/netflix\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/entertainment\/streaming\/netflix\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Netflix<\/a> originals is over, right? Well, not quite. Sure, Eleven&#8217;s defeated Vecna, and we&#8217;ve quite literally closed the book on Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin&#8217;s Dungeons &amp; Dragons campaign, but the franchise will live on in some way.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re not quite ready to truly say goodbye to the Duffer Brothers&#8217; beloved sci-fi series, you&#8217;re in luck: We won&#8217;t be fully leaving the world of &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; just yet, as we know there are two &#8220;<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/tag\/stranger-things\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/tag\/stranger-things\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stranger Things<\/a>&#8221; spinoffs in development right now. At the time of writing, we know at least a little bit of info about the two forthcoming series. The first is the animated series &#8220;Tales From &#8217;85,&#8221; and the latter is a live-action spinoff which the series creators say is at a &#8220;very early&#8221; stage of production.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"a731d8f4-38d7-4f8c-93a3-0b32302c7980-2\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Read on for a quick rundown of what we know about the &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; spinoffs that the Duffer Brothers have in the works right now.<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-431f9f27-01a7-4870-9b25-48c3bbdd9a47\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/>&#8216;Stranger Things: Tales From &#8217;85&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Stranger Things: Tales From \u201885 | Official Announcement | Netflix &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767433449_605_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Stranger Things: Tales From \u201885 | Official Announcement | Netflix - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-7m49Wm64ngo\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7m49Wm64ngo\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7m49Wm64ngo\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"5ed93663-78be-4b06-875f-99672b41d52e\">The first show we know about is &#8220;Stranger Things: Tales From &#8217;85,&#8221; an animated series that is set between seasons 2 and 3 of the original show.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tales From &#8217;85&#8221; takes place during a freezing winter in Hawkins, Indiana, and sees the original characters (not voiced by the original cast) heading on an &#8220;epic journey&#8221; (as <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.anrdoezrs.net\/links\/8900245\/type\/dlg\/sid\/tomsguide-us-6467969649862490455\/https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/articles\/stranger-things-animated-series-news?utm_source=mediacenter\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/articles\/stranger-things-animated-series-news?utm_source=mediacenter\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" rel=\"sponsored noopener nofollow\" data-hl-processed=\"hawklinks\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" data-placeholder-url=\"https:\/\/www.anrdoezrs.net\/links\/8900245\/type\/dlg\/sid\/hawk-custom-tracking\/https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/articles\/stranger-things-animated-series-news?utm_source=mediacenter\" data-merchant-name=\"Netflix\" data-merchant-id=\"1070\" data-merchant-network=\"CJ\" data-merchant-url=\"netflix.com\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\">Tudum <\/a>puts it) wherein the original gang confronts a new mystery plaguing the town.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town in &#8220;Stranger Things: Tales From &#8217;85&#8221;,&#8221; the logline reads. The series will be showrun by Eric Robles, and has been much-hyped by Robles, the Duffers and everyone involved, as you can see in the above trailer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.24%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9hrP6tVRrRy9zGR8pDUUfh.jpg\" alt=\"Eleven and Mike in a scene from Netflix's animated series, &amp;quot;Stranger Things: Tales From '85&amp;quot;\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9hrP6tVRrRy9zGR8pDUUfh.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9hrP6tVRrRy9zGR8pDUUfh.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Netflix)<\/p>\n<p id=\"7e25a126-fa67-47ee-a575-e8e0610c7058\">In addition to Eleven (voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), Mike (Luca Diaz), Lucas (Elisha &#8220;EJ&#8221; Williams), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Will (Benjamin Plessala), and Hopper (Brett Gipson), the series cast also includes Odessa A&#8217;zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamon Phillips (whose roles haven&#8217;t been disclosed just yet).<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Stranger Things: Tales From &#8217;85&#8221; is due to stream at some point in 2026. Expect more info about the series in due course.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-c8da2357-2411-47af-bec6-c4c98f053540\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/>Untitled live-action &#8216;Stranger Things&#8217; spinoff<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/hwBuHw9qfVUnfsHrtTvrTW.jpg\" alt=\"Linnea Berthelsen as Kali, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, and David Harbour as Jim Hopper in &quot;Stranger Things&quot; season 5 part 2\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/hwBuHw9qfVUnfsHrtTvrTW.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/hwBuHw9qfVUnfsHrtTvrTW.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Netflix)<\/p>\n<p id=\"84efbec4-7852-4170-aa8a-6904d0eb18a0\">The other spinoff we know comparatively little about is the untitled live-action series that the Duffer Brothers have teased during the press tour for Season 5.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking with <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/stranger-things-volume-2-the-duffer-brothers-interview-1236458696\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/stranger-things-volume-2-the-duffer-brothers-interview-1236458696\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> in an interview published alongside Volume 2, Ross Duffer confirmed the pair were &#8220;very early days on a live-action spinoff&#8221; \u2014 but don&#8217;t expect to be reunited with Eleven, Will, or any of the Hawkins gang.<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p>Why? The Ross said as much: &#8220;This is the end of the story for these characters of Hawkins, for the Upside Down.&#8221; Instead, this new spinoff will be set in a different decade and focus on a new cast, but will remain connected to the &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; universe.<\/p>\n<p>Once again, the brothers won&#8217;t be showrunning this series, but they will be &#8220;heavily involved,&#8221; and Ross added that they hope &#8220;it&#8217;s something announced soon-ish.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.29%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TShY6VUtoo3xf2ERzZttAE.jpg\" alt=\"L-R: Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) playing Dungeons and Dragons in the &quot;Stranger Things&quot; season 5 finale\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TShY6VUtoo3xf2ERzZttAE.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TShY6VUtoo3xf2ERzZttAE.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Netflix)<\/p>\n<p id=\"8deb0546-9568-4a71-944e-55f70d429564\">This is all in keeping with what Matt told <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-spinoff-new-characters-not-star-wars-1236554757\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-spinoff-new-characters-not-star-wars-1236554757\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Variety<\/a> about the &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; live-action spinoff back in October 2025: that the show will be in keeping with the original show&#8217;s vibe: &#8220;kids, adventures, sci-fi\/fantasy, rather than increasingly expand[ing] what could become an insanely convoluted mythology,&#8221; Matt said.<\/p>\n<p>However, the finale has in fact contained a clue to what the spinoff&#8217;s about: that strange rock Henry Creel got from the scientist&#8217;s briefcase. Pressed on the subject in a Jan. 1 interview with <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-finale-is-eleven-alive-vecna-killed-rock-spinoff-1236621528\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/stranger-things-finale-is-eleven-alive-vecna-killed-rock-spinoff-1236621528\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Variety<\/a>, Matt confirmed the rock was &#8220;spinoffy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I do want to explain, just because people\u2019s expectations go in certain directions: The spinoff is going to delve into that and explain that, and you\u2019re going to understand it,&#8221; Matt said. &#8220;But it\u2019s a completely different mythology. So it\u2019s not a deep exploration of the Mind Flayer or anything like that. It\u2019s very fresh and very new, but yes, it will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Now that &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; season 5 is in the rearview, hopefully, the brothers will have more time to work on this mystery spinoff, and we&#8217;ll get a clearer picture of what this new show looks like soon.<\/p>\n<p id=\"75a59922-13e4-47a5-9169-7804b45d32bd\">In the meantime, if the &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; finale has left you between shows, be sure to check out our definitive round-up of the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/best-picks\/best-netflix-shows-tv-series-originals\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/best-picks\/best-netflix-shows-tv-series-originals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">best shows on Netflix<\/a> for tons more streaming suggestions perfect for filling that void.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJ2YlhObmRXbGtaUzVqYjIwb0FBUAE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" id=\"06d201de-27cf-41a6-a63b-99d9331b6ed3\" data-url=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJ2YlhObmRXbGtaUzVqYjIwb0FBUAE\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:31.51%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/r3t8zZ5ve4GewFTeoCM3R6.jpg\" alt=\"Google News\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/r3t8zZ5ve4GewFTeoCM3R6.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/r3t8zZ5ve4GewFTeoCM3R6.jpg\" class=\"pull-right\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"37981948-529e-4bfa-93df-d8a6a724ebda\">Follow <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJ2YlhObmRXbGtaUzVqYjIwb0FBUAE\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJ2YlhObmRXbGtaUzVqYjIwb0FBUAE\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Tom&#8217;s Guide on Google News<\/a> and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tomsguide.com\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tomsguide.com\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">add us as a preferred source<\/a> to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. <\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-more-from-tom-s-guide\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/>More from Tom&#8217;s Guide<a id=\"elk-8d653785-f764-4857-8f35-2b70516538d9\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Streaming service deals not to miss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The &#8220;Stranger Things&#8221; series finale has been and gone, meaning one of the most talked-about Netflix originals is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[18,117,19,17,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-264924","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115830526388276406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}