Netflix Just Figured Out How To Keep Stranger Things Going Forever

Netflix is about to lose its biggest money-printing pop culture franchise when "Stranger Things" finally comes to an end on New Years' Eve, but don't count out the streamer just yet. On the one hand, there's Netflix's biggest surprise hit of the year, "KPop Demon Hunters," which is now expanding into a franchise with a sequel and reported talks of further spin-offs. On the other hand, even if the main "Stranger Things" series is coming to an end, that's not going to be the end of Hawkins.

Indeed, the streamer has only just revealed the first look at "Stranger Things: Tales From '85," an animated spin-off prequel series set between seasons 2 and 3 and full of new monsters, mysteries, and your favorite "Stranger Things" characters. Created by Eric Robles, the show is still being executive produced by the Duffer brothers, though it will not include any of the live-action "Stranger Things" actors. Instead, Brooklyn Davey Norstedt is playing Eleven, with Jolie Hoang-Rappaport voicing Max, Luca Diaz portraying Mike, Elisha Williams voicing Lucas, Braxton Quinney taking over as Dustin, Ben Plessala bringing Will to life, and Brett Gipson serving as your new Hopper.

In the show's announcement video (see above), the Duffers discuss wanting to make their own '80s cartoon with "Tales From '85." Similarly, at a presentation earlier this year at the Annecy Animation Film Festival, Robles cited "The Real Ghostbusters" and the animated "Beetlejuice" series as the foundations on which this show's approach and nostalgic feel were built. Sadly, much like those series, "Tales From '85" also feels like a lesser version of the thing that inspired it, from the absence of the original cast to its unflattering look and its story's lack of urgency. Regardless, Netflix now has a way to keep "Stranger Things" alive forever.

Perhaps the most curious choice made here involves having "Stranger Things: Tales From '85" take place between the events of "Stranger Things" seasons 2 and 3 — a point at which many of the series' most beloved dynamics and relationships hadn't been fully established. For instance, Robin (who's played by Maya Hawke in live-action) could potentially show up, but she definitely won't be a part of the core group.

Still, that may not matter to Netflix, seeing as "Tales From '85" gives it a way to keep the "Stranger Things" franchise going for a long, long time. We're talking on the level with "The Simpsons" and basically any other long-lived cartoon sitcom. Sure, the show has "'85" in the title, but that doesn't mean it will be limited to a single season. Instead, it could pull a "Phineas and Ferb" and have its action take place across a single summer (or winter, in this case) ad infinitum, with each season being a new adventure that somehow takes place in the same two-month span.

"Stranger Things" isn't the first big-hit property to give rise to a nonsensical cartoon spin-off, of course. This was a very common thing in the 1980s and '90s, with even violent, rated-R movies like "RoboCop" and "First Blood" somehow being turned into kid-friendly animated series. The trend didn't even stop there, either, as Netflix has already sort of revived that tradition in the last decade with cartoon spin-offs of "Jurassic World" and even the "Fast & Furious" franchise (despite them being very much not for children, at least in the latter's case). This is just the latest example, but it won't be the last.

"Stranger Things: Tales From '85" premieres on Netflix in 2026.