Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Like Barb, Bob, Eddie, and Doctor Brenner, Stranger Things is dead...well, at least in a traditional sense. Joining the likes of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead in that great TV graveyard, the show that we've come to know and love over the past nine and a half years is done and dusted. However, just like all of the above have shown, this isn't always the end of the road. With prequels, sequels, and spin-offs galore, was anyone really buying that Netflix would be letting Stranger Things bow out after five seasons?
Helping put the streaming giant on the map, Stranger Things is too much of a valuable an IP to let lie. After all, not everything becomes an immersive attraction.
We've already had Stranger Things: The First Shadow as a prequel play that gave us some much-needed backstory to how Victor Creel became Vecna, but while that drummed up controversy due to its being seemingly essential viewing but being impossible to see unless you visited a limited run in London or New York, fans have a very different beef with the latest expansion of the Upside Down.
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Even though some of the cast seem ready to move on to new projects, you won't have to wait long until we're back in Hawkins, thanks to Stranger Things: Tales from '85.
Announced in April 2025, this prequel series is an animated outing that takes place between season 2 and season 3 of the main series.
The Duffer Brothers have said they wanted to capture the spirit of an '80s Saturday-morning cartoon but set in the Stranger Things universe, and while that sounds like a license to print money, not everyone is sold.
Away from complaints that none of the OG cast are reprising their roles, Stranger Things: Tales from '85 is being called out for releasing too close to the divisive season 5 finale.
Grumbling that Tales from '85 is releasing in 2026, one person moaned, "It's only been 24 hours since the series ended lmao," seemingly not realizing it was announced months ago.
Another added: "This is how sh*t becomes hated or forgettable. Let it die."
What happened during this time that was so important that it didn't get mentioned in the Stranger Things show? pic.twitter.com/EmCb8CGwVX
— 𝕾𝖊𝖗 𝕵𝖆𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕷𝖆𝖓𝖓𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 (@asoiaf_266AC) January 1, 2026
A third questioned: "Why are they over doing things? I mean season 3-5 was unnecessary, why adding an animation to it 🤦♂️."
Notably, there were plenty of memes and accusations that Netflix is milking its cash cow.
Elsewhere, many just aren't a fan of the animation style and claim they won't be watching based on this alone.
Still, showrunner Eric Robles has promised that we'll be getting new adventures with new characters, telling fans to "get your flashlight, get your backpack because it's going to be amazing."
There's no solid release date for Stranger Things: Tales from '85, but it’s on the way alongside another live-action spin-off. The Duffers have suggested the mystery project will be set in a different decade and steer away from the characters we already know, while Finn Wolfhard has compared it to David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
Get ready to have your world turned 'upside down' all over again.
