The finale of Stranger Things proved divisive, but love it or hate it, the sci-fi universe is here to stay. Following a first look and voice cast reveal of its upcoming animated spin-off, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, Netflix has unveiled the official trailer showing Eleven and friends back in Hawkins, as they embark on a new adventure starting 23 April 2026.
The clip opens with Will showing up at El’s door and Hopper warning him to behave, before the group hops on their bikes and heads off to play D&D in the dungeon. In pure Stranger Things fashion, things quickly turn south, with more nightmarish threats spilling out from the Upside Down.
“In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading. Our heroes Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Max have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights and quiet days. But beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened. Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely? Our heroes must race to solve this mystery and save Hawkins in this untold story set in the Stranger Things universe,” reads the logline.
Set after the events of Season 2 but before Season 3 of the main series, the midquel will feature a brand-new voice cast, including Brooklyn Davey Norstedt (WeCrashed) as El, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (In Your Dreams) as Max, Luca Diaz (Transformers: Earthspark) as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams (The Wonder Years) as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Ben Plessala (Turning Red) as Will, and Brett Gipson as Hopper.
Returning as executive producers are series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, collectively known as the Duffer Brothers, alongside Hilary Leavitt, Shawn Levy, and Dan Cohen. Eric Robles (The X’s) will serve as showrunner, and Flying Bark Productions (What If…?, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is handling the show’s animation.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 premieres on Netflix on 23 April.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
