Quick Answer: Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is a new animated spin-off series on Netflix, developed by the Duffer Brothers and showrunner Eric Robles. All 10 episodes of Season 1 premiered on April 23, 2026. Set in the winter of 1985 — between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original — the series follows Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max as they face brand new monsters and a terrifying paranormal mystery in Hawkins, Indiana. None of the original live-action cast reprise their roles. It debuted at No. 7 on Netflix’s global Top 10 with 13.8 million hours viewed in its first week — and was renewed for Season 2 just five days after premiere.
Hawkins, Indiana. Winter of 1985. Something is stirring beneath the ice.
Three years after the Stranger Things live-action series concluded with its fifth and final season, the Upside Down has returned — this time in animated form. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is Netflix’s first animated expansion of the Stranger Things universe, and it arrives with all the nostalgia, monster horror, and small-town mystery that made the original one of the most beloved shows in streaming history.
Whether you binged Season 1 the day it dropped or you are still deciding whether to watch, this is everything you need to know — the full plot, every voice cast member, what the Duffer Brothers intended, how critics and fans responded, and what Season 2 holds in store.
What Is Stranger Things: Tales From ’85?
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is an animated American science fiction television series and a spin-off of Netflix’s landmark Stranger Things. It was first announced by Netflix in April 2025, with all 10 episodes of Season 1 releasing simultaneously on April 23, 2026.
The series is set in Hawkins in the winter of 1985, between the events of the second and third seasons of Stranger Things, where “the original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town.”
The Duffers intended to capture the feel of an ’80s Saturday-morning cartoon set in the Stranger Things universe — an ambitious tonal bridge between the dark, intense live-action show and something that could serve as an entry point for younger audiences.
The animation is produced by Flying Bark Productions — the studio behind What If…? for Marvel — giving the series a polished, cinematic animated look that feels distinct from both the live-action show and traditional children’s animation.
The Full Plot — What Happens in Season 1?
The official logline sets the scene: “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 new story set in the Stranger Things universe.”
The season picks up in the quiet lull between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original — a brief window in which Hawkins almost felt normal again. Almost.
The Upside Down’s influence is again seeping into the town: familiar locations such as Hawkins National Laboratory resurface, and new supernatural creatures emerge — early descriptions include threats such as Upside Down pumpkin zombies and vine-like monsters.
New Character: Nikki Baxter
One of the biggest additions to the Stranger Things universe in Tales From ’85 is Nikki Baxter — a brand-new character who joins the Hawkins kids on their animated adventures. She is described as “taller and bigger” than the core group, with pinkish hair that is short on the sides, and is characterised as “a tinker.” She is voiced by Odessa A’zion.
Nikki’s mother, Anna Baxter, is voiced by the legendary Janeane Garofalo — and the introduction of this mother-daughter duo suggests a rich new corner of the Hawkins universe that could develop significantly in Season 2.
The Tone — “Entry-Level Stranger Things”
The tone is described as more family-friendly and brighter in its visuals than the live-action show — described by Netflix and press reports as “entry-level Stranger Things” suitable for slightly younger audiences.
But showrunner Eric Robles is clear that the stakes are genuine. “It’s got the thrill of being young, being a kid, and going on these thrilling adventures. But then there’s this essence of real danger, real stakes,” Robles told Netflix Tudum. He added: “This is one of the rarest opportunities that we’re ever going to get to be with the main characters. We get to go back in time and really just hang out with these kids.”
Ross Duffer was equally enthusiastic about what animation allows the team to do. “With animation there’s really no limits,” Ross Duffer said. “Eric and his team can just go wild… and they have.”
Full Voice Cast — Who Plays Who?
None of the original live-action cast reprise their roles in this follow-up. Instead, an entirely new generation of voice actors brings the beloved characters to animated life.
Main Cast
| Voice Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Brooklyn Davey Norstedt | Eleven |
| Luca Diaz | Mike Wheeler |
| Benjamin Plessala | Will Byers |
| Braxton Quinney | Dustin Henderson |
| Elisha “EJ” Williams | Lucas Sinclair |
| Jolie Hoang-Rappaport | Max Mayfield |
| Brett Gipson | Jim Hopper |
| Odessa A’zion | Nikki Baxter (new character) |
Supporting Cast
| Voice Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Janeane Garofalo | Anna Baxter (Nikki’s mother) |
| Jeremy Jordan | Steve Harrington |
| Lou Diamond Phillips | Daniel Fischer |
| Robert Englund | Cosmo |
| Alysia Reiner | Karen Wheeler |
| Alessandra Antonelli | Nancy Wheeler |
| Griffin Burns | Jonathan Byers |
| Valeria Rodriguez | Rosario |
| Jack Griffo | Jeff |
The Robert Englund Connection
The most thrilling casting detail in the entire production: Robert Englund — best known globally as Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise — voices a character named Cosmo in Tales From ’85. Englund had previously portrayed Victor Creel in the original Stranger Things live-action series, making his return to the franchise in a new animated form a delicious piece of connective tissue for long-time fans.
Behind the Scenes — The Duffer Brothers’ Vision
The idea for Tales From ’85 came from the Duffers’ earliest conversations about expanding the Stranger Things universe beyond the live-action show.
“When we started talking about was there anything else we wanted to do with Stranger Things, this was one of our first ideas,” Ross Duffer said. The Duffers hoped the series would evoke the same feeling as watching an old ’80s cartoon.
The animated series they had in mind was specifically in the mould of The Real Ghostbusters — the iconic 1986 Saturday-morning cartoon that took the characters and world of Ghostbusters and delivered kid-friendly supernatural adventure every weekend. That comparison is deeply intentional. The Duffers said the series would be in the vein of the Saturday-morning cartoons they grew up with.
The production is helmed by Eric Robles as showrunner — the creator of Fanboy & Chum Chum and Glitch Techs, and a producer on Marvel’s What If…? — and co-developed with Jennifer Muro. The animation studio is Flying Bark Productions, an Australian studio with a strong track record in high-quality animated television.
Executive producers include the Duffer Brothers via Upside Down Pictures, Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps Entertainment (the production company behind the live-action Stranger Things series), and Hilary Leavitt.
The Soundtrack — Pure ’80s Heaven
One of the most celebrated aspects of Stranger Things has always been its music — and Tales From ’85 carries that tradition into animation.
The series features ’80s hits from artists including Black Sabbath, Cyndi Lauper, The Go-Go’s, Judas Priest, and many more.
The original score was composed by Brad Breeck, whose music references the original Stranger Things theme composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein — tying the animated series sonically to the world fans fell in love with.
The official soundtrack album is available globally on all major streaming platforms, and Netflix has released an official Tales From ’85 playlist on Spotify featuring every classic track used in the show.
Ratings and Reception — How Did It Perform?
Viewership
Tales From ’85 debuted at No. 7 on Netflix’s weekly Top 10 English-language TV chart for the week of April 20–26. It was viewed 13.8 million hours — which when divided by the show’s total runtime equates to approximately 2.8 million views.
The series secured a spot in the top 15 animated series debuts of all time on Netflix, just as the five seasons of Stranger Things collectively reached 1.5 billion cumulative views since their premieres through March 2026.
For context: Stranger Things Seasons 4 and 5 are among Netflix’s most-watched television seasons of all time — so the franchise has a built-in audience of extraordinary scale. Tales From ’85 has clearly tapped into that fanbase immediately.
Critical Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 63% approval rating based on 30 critic reviews — a score that reflects genuinely mixed opinions.
Critics who praised the show cited its visual style, its faithful recreation of the Hawkins atmosphere in animated form, and the unexpectedly strong voice performances — particularly from the young actors voicing the main gang. The Robles-Duffer creative partnership has produced something that feels genuinely connected to the original show’s DNA.
Critics who were more reserved pointed to the lighter, more family-friendly tone as a departure from what made the live-action Stranger Things so powerful — arguing that by dialing down the darkness, some of the emotional intensity is also lost. The absence of the original cast was noted by several reviewers as a barrier to full immersion.
Fan response has been considerably warmer than the critical consensus. Robles captured what the show’s enthusiasts feel most strongly: “This is one of the rarest opportunities that we’re ever going to get to be with the main characters. We get to go back in time and really just hang out with these kids.” For the millions of fans who grieved the end of the live-action series, that opportunity — even in animated form — is genuinely precious.
Season 2 — Already Confirmed for Fall 2026
Netflix renewed Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 for Season 2 just five days after the series premiered on April 23. The speed of that renewal signals genuine confidence in the show’s long-term performance.
After uncovering a fearsome mystery at the end of Season 1, Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Nikki will take on another perilous threat when new episodes arrive on Netflix this fall.
Showrunner Eric Robles has been explicit about the structure of the series going forward: “They’re not isolated. They’re very much connected [to each other],” Robles explained — signalling that Season 2 will pick up directly from the threads left unresolved at the end of Season 1, rather than treating each season as a standalone anthology.
The danger is not only growing — it is linked. Season 2 arrives fall 2026.
How Does Tales From ’85 Fit Into the Stranger Things Timeline?
For viewers trying to place this animated series within the broader Stranger Things mythology, here is the timeline:
| Season | Timeline | Key events |
|---|---|---|
| ST Season 1 | Winter 1983 | Will disappears into the Upside Down. Eleven escapes Hawkins Lab. The Demogorgon |
| ST Season 2 | Autumn/Winter 1984 | Will possessed by Mind Flayer. The Shadow Monster. Dustin finds D’Artagnan |
| Tales From ’85 Season 1 | Winter 1985 | ← HERE — New monsters, Nikki Baxter, new mystery |
| ST Season 3 | Summer 1985 | The Starcourt Mall. The Mind Flayer returns. Billy. Hopper “dies” |
| ST Season 4 | 1986 | Hawkins, California, Russia. Vecna. Max in coma |
| ST Season 5 | 1987 | The final battle for Hawkins |
The animated series slots into a specific, previously unexplored gap — the quiet winter between the chaos of Season 2 and the summer disaster of Season 3. It is, by design, a pocket of Hawkins history that the live-action show never visited. The kids had a few months of peace. Tales From ’85 reveals what filled that peace — and what shattered it.
Is Tales From ’85 Worth Watching? Our Verdict
For Stranger Things fans: Absolutely yes. If you loved the live-action series and grieved its ending, Tales From ’85 is a genuine gift — more time with Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max in Hawkins, with new monsters, new mysteries, and all the ’80s nostalgia you could ask for. The tone is lighter, but the love for the source material is unmistakable.
For newcomers: This is not the ideal entry point. The animated series rewards familiarity with the live-action show’s characters, emotional beats, and world-building. Watch the original Stranger Things first — all five seasons are on Netflix — and then come to Tales From ’85 as a bonus chapter.
For families with younger kids: This is perhaps the best Stranger Things experience for younger viewers. The description of “entry-level Stranger Things” is accurate — it captures the adventure and mystery without the more intense horror elements of the later live-action seasons. A perfect way to introduce a new generation to Hawkins.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½ — A warm, nostalgic return to Hawkins with enormous franchise goodwill behind it. Not as powerful as the best of the live-action show, but a deeply enjoyable animated adventure that justifies its existence fully.
Quick Facts: Stranger Things: Tales From ’85
| Network | Netflix |
| Premiere date | April 23, 2026 |
| Episodes (Season 1) | 10 |
| Episode length | 27–32 minutes |
| Set | Winter 1985, Hawkins, Indiana |
| Timeline placement | Between ST Seasons 2 and 3 |
| Showrunner | Eric Robles |
| Executive producers | Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy, Hilary Leavitt |
| Animation studio | Flying Bark Productions |
| Composer | Brad Breeck |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 63% (critics) |
| Netflix Top 10 debut | No. 7 — 13.8M hours viewed |
| Season 2 | Confirmed — arriving Fall 2026 |
| New character | Nikki Baxter (voiced by Odessa A’zion) |
| Original cast? | None reprise their roles |
Frequently Asked Questions
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85?
What is Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is an animated spin-off series set in the Stranger Things universe, developed by the Duffer Brothers and showrunner Eric Robles. It is set in the winter of 1985 — between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original show — and follows Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max as they battle new monsters and investigate a new paranormal mystery in Hawkins, Indiana. All 10 episodes of Season 1 are streaming on Netflix now.
When did Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 premiere?
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 premiered on Netflix on April 23, 2026. The first two episodes also had a limited theatrical release on April 18, 2026. All 10 episodes of Season 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.
Does the original Stranger Things cast voice the animated series?
No. None of the original live-action Stranger Things cast — including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, or Gaten Matarazzo — reprise their roles in Tales From ’85. An entirely new voice cast plays the animated versions of the characters.
Who voices Eleven in Tales From ’85?
Eleven is voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Other main voice cast members include Luca Diaz as Mike Wheeler, Benjamin Plessala as Will Byers, Braxton Quinney as Dustin Henderson, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas Sinclair, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max Mayfield, Brett Gipson as Hopper, and Odessa A’zion as new character Nikki Baxter.
Where does Tales From ’85 fit in the Stranger Things timeline?
Tales From ’85 is set in the winter of 1985, between Stranger Things Season 2 (autumn 1984) and Stranger Things Season 3 (summer 1985). It explores events in Hawkins during a previously unvisited gap in the live-action series timeline.
Is Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 renewed for Season 2?
Yes. Netflix officially renewed Tales From ’85 for Season 2 on April 28, 2026 — just five days after Season 1 premiered. Season 2 is confirmed to arrive on Netflix in fall 2026.
Is Tales From ’85 suitable for kids?
Yes, more so than the live-action Stranger Things series. Tales From ’85 has been described as “entry-level Stranger Things” — it captures the adventure and mystery of the original but in a brighter, more family-friendly animated format that is more suitable for younger viewers. The live-action series (particularly Seasons 4 and 5) is significantly more intense.
What music is in Tales From ’85?
The series features classic ’80s hits from artists including Black Sabbath, Cyndi Lauper, The Go-Go’s, and Judas Priest, as well as an original score by Brad Breeck that references the iconic Stranger Things theme by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein. The official soundtrack is available on all streaming platforms.
Are you watching Stranger Things: Tales From ’85? What did you think of the new characters, the animation style, and the new monsters? Drop your thoughts in the comments and share this with every Stranger Things fan you know.
Season 2 arrives fall 2026 — follow our blog for all the latest updates from Hawkins.
For more TV reviews, Netflix guides, and entertainment news, bookmark our blog.