The Stranger Things animated series, currently in the works over at Netflix, officially has a title, and it raises a lot of intriguing questions.
Dubbed Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85, the show draws inspiration from the weekend morning fare that a generation of kids enjoyed in their pajamas while wolfing down a bowl of cereal.
“We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling,” franchise creators Matt and Ross Duffer said.
I have to say, the idea that Stranger Things could take its retro vibe one step further by channeling the likes of Transformers and He-Man has me reaching for the Coco Puffs already.
What will Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 be about?
The title poses a lot of questions, especially in terms of what the show will actually be about.
Details so far have been few and far between, with the focus still squarely on the OG show’s final season. Netflix plan on releasing more information during their panel at Annecy Film Festival in June, but until then, we’d speculate the Tales From… moniker very much lends itself to an anthology approach a la Star Wars: Tales over on Disney Plus.
The ‘85 part also places the new spin-off close to season three of the main show, which takes place in Summer of 1985, so we could see storylines around Hopper post-capture or even Dustin’s time at Camp Know Where pre-season and his meeting Suzie. There’s also the fact that the Russian villains managed to build an entire scientific facility under the Starcourt Mall and that Brenner was absent, presumed dead, during this time, waiting be explored.
While the Duffers are handing over the showrunner reigns to Glitch Techs creator Eric Robles, they remain onboard as executive producers, and assure fans that the franchise is in safe hands, stating: “We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with – the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues.”
When can we expect Stranger Things season 5?
As for Stranger Things’ long awaited fifth and final season, details are still thin on the ground.
Fans might have expected a mid-2025 release for what is sure to be one of the best Netflix shows and biggest blockbusters of the year, but with Wednesday confirmed to be returning to one of the best streaming services in August, that seems unlikely.
A leak earlier this year pointed to a late 2025 release, as well as revealing some supposed spoilery plot details, but we won’t go into those here. What we can do, however, is point you to our Stranger Things season 5 guide which gives you the full lowdown on everything we know, including casting news, episode titles and more.
There’s a lot to be excited about for Stranger Things fans, and we haven’t even mentioned the stage show prequel Stranger Things: First Shadow, which you can currently catch on Broadway and in London’s West End. Saying goodbye to Eleven and co. may be a bittersweet prospect, but with the franchise set to continue on, the future looks totally tubular.
