Stranger Things: Tales From '85 first look is nostalgia bait (for early seasons of Stranger Things)

The new animated series will premiere on Netflix in 2026.

By Mary Kate Carr | November 6, 2025 | 12:10pm

Screenshot: Netflix/YouTube

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Stranger Things: Tales From '85 first look is nostalgia bait (for early seasons of Stranger Things)

This year will mark the conclusion of Stranger Things, but of course the Stranger Things franchise will continue on in some forms. One of those forms is the animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, coming to Netflix in 2026. A new featurette released on Thursday (known in the fandom as Stranger Things Day, to mark the day Will Byers disappeared and kicked off the first season) reveals the first footage of the new show, which teases that “Something survived in ’85….”

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 welcomes fans “back to Hawkins in the stark winter of 1985,” in the time between the second and third season. While the live-action original series has to contend with the actors quickly outgrowing their childish roles, the animated series can re-capture them as they were. A new cast of voice actors will take on the parts, including Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Ben Plessala as Will and Brett Gipson as Hopper. The gang “must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town,” with new cast members including Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips.

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In the featurette, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer say that an animated series was “one of our first ideas” for a spin-off, meant to “evoke a feeling of an ’80s cartoon.” Showrunner Eric Robles previously shared some inspirations for the show at the Annecy Animation Festival earlier this year. “It all went back to The Real Ghostbusters,” he said (via Deadline). “It was silly but had a handful of dark, creepy episodes and we just kept talking about that. That became the north star for us.” He also cited Transformers, ET, and Goosebumps, crediting inspiration for the character design to artist Meybis Ruiz Cruz. “There’s danger and not everyone might survive,” Robles said. “The danger is real and that had an impact on the design.”

Though the Duffer brothers have exited Netflix to set up shop at Paramount, they continue to develop Stranger Things properties at their original home. The flagship series has already seen a prequel stage play make it to Broadway. Another spin-off television show is in the works, which will “live in a bit of a different world” but have “connective tissue” to Stranger Things, the writer-directors said last month. You can check out the first look images from Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 below.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 still (Image courtesy Netflix)