After some shocking endings in the flagship series, Eleven and the original main characters are officially back in Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 this year, which also brings along a new character solving Hawkins’ Upside Down mysteries.
Despite wrapping up the key storylines in Stranger Things‘ series finale in December, the iconic Hawkins crew is returning this spring for Tales from ’85, an animated spinoff that explores the gap between seasons 2 and 3 of the main show. The new series, set in the winter of 1985, follows Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max solving previously unseen dark mysteries, with an all-new voice cast taking over the iconic roles.
Netflix has confirmed that Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will premiere on April 23, 2026, keeping the franchise’s momentum high throughout the new year after dominating streaming in late 2025. The animated show was previously teased through a few stills, with Netflix now finally unveiling the voices and action of the spinoff in a thrilling new trailer:
The trailer teases some light-hearted fun for the Party in the new series, including snowball fights, trips to the arcade, and dates for the couples. However, darkness still looms over Hawkins, with the footage giving action-packed glimpses into new mutated monsters, seemingly from the Upside Down and Hawkins Lab, threatening the small town. As always, it’s up to the young teens to save their friends, family, and town from the terrifying otherworldly creatures.
Tales from ’85‘s trailer and teaser images also finally give a better look at Stranger Things‘ new lore-changing character, revealing that another young teen helped the Party battle creatures between seasons 2 and 3. Tales from ’85 introduces the character Nikki, a pink-haired teen whose unique skills come in handy against the new monsters.
Considering Nikki was never mentioned in Stranger Things seasons 3, 4, or 5, it still remains to be seen how Tales from ’85 will explain the character’s absence from the latter half of the main live-action series and final battle with the Upside Down.
In addition to unveiling Nikki, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85‘s trailer finally reveals the new voice actors’ interpretations of the iconic original characters. Taking over from Netflix’s live-action Stranger Things cast, Tales from ’85‘s voice actors include: Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Benjamin Plessala as Will, Brett Gipson as Hopper, and the newly-confirmed Jeremy Jordan as Steve.
Among the animated voice cast whose characters have yet to be confirmed are Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamond Phillips. Tales from ’85 also sees the Duffer Brothers returning as executive producers, with the showrunner position being filled by Eric Robles, who teased the animated project’s new dangers for the young kids and key differences from the original Stranger Things series to Tudum:
“We get to spend time with these kids in a way that you did not have time to in the flagship series. We were able to freeze time and really go on these never-before-told adventures with them in this timeline.
We want the audience to feel that these kids are in danger, the stakes are real, and bad things can happen to anyone. And things do happen that are very scary in a sense, so that really makes the danger for the kids that much more tangible.”
Those dangers include monsters that were never seen in the main TV show, such as a pumpkin-mutated creature, a giant spherical monster, and some Demogorgon-like beings that threaten Hawkins. While Hopper is back in the spinoff, the trailers and teasers thus far put a much larger emphasis on El, Mike, Will, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Steve, and Nikki as the core focus of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85‘s novel mysteries.
The arrival of the animated show in April will mark a massive milestone for the franchise, ushering in the very first spinoff series in one of Netflix’s top flagship properties. The franchise has already expanded onto Broadway with the official Stranger Things: The First Shadow prequel play, but Tales from ’85 is the inaugural Netflix screen spinoff.
While most details around the secretive project are still being kept tight under wraps, the Duffer Brothers have another spinoff in the works after Stranger Things: Tales from ’85. That project is confirmed to depart from the familiar characters, setting, and timeline, but will explain the mysterious rock that young Henry Creel finds that results in his powers.
- Writers
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Ross Duffer, Matt Duffer
- Franchise(s)
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Stranger Things
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Brooklyn Davey Norstedt
Eleven
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Jolie Hoang-Rappaport
Max
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