Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.
The news that a Nancy Wheeler spinoff will be released after Stranger Things season 5 reinforces the reality of the franchise’s future, whether fans like it or not. After over three years of waiting, Stranger Things season 5 volume 1 is finally here.
The first four episodes of the show’s long-awaited final chapter lived up to the hype. Impressing fans and critics alike, the first half of Stranger Things season 5 managed to reintroduce the world of Hawkins and its slew of characters without feeling overstuffed or manic. This is great news for 2026’s upcoming spinoff Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, an interquel that will be set between seasons 2 and 3. Rather than traveling ahead in time, into the ‘90s, 2000s, or present day, or further back into the ‘60s or ‘40s, the first Stranger Things spinoff is doubling down on the original show’s story. This animated series will see an all-new voice cast bring back familiar characters like Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max. Stranger Things: One Way Or Another’s Nancy Story Proves The Franchise Isn’t Moving Past Its Original Story When Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 was first announced, this approach sounded risky. After all, this premise doesn’t expand the show’s universe at all; instead, it explores the same characters, during the same time period, in the same setting, but in more detail. However, the plan now seems smarter after the release of Stranger Things season 5 volume 1. While the split release of Stranger Things season 5 means that the show’s final chapter won’t be over until January 2026, the show has already made it clear that viewers missed a lot between seasons 4 and 5. The town of Hawkins was placed under military quarantine, Robin became a radio DJ, and Dustin’s personality changed completely. The former comic relief of the series became a tortured outcast whose support of his late friend Eddie Munson led to merciless bullying from his school’s jocks and isolation from his own friends. This proves that plenty of notable plot events and character details occurred off screen between seasons, but the show had no time to explore them. As such, it is a relief to hear that author Caitlyn Schneiderhan’s spinoff novel Stranger Things: One Way or Another will fill in some of these blanks. Subtitled “A Nancy Wheeler Mystery,” this standalone book will see Nancy and Robin investigate the strange fate of their classmate, Joey Taft, during the time between seasons 4 and 5. Although Robin and Nancy are the novel’s main characters, Schneiderhan’s book has enough scope to fill readers in on what all the show’s main characters were up to between seasons 4 and 5. This is a blessing for the series, which didn’t have enough screen time to explain much before launching straight into Vecna’s Stranger Things season 5 plan. Stranger Things Focusing On Its Original Story Limits The Show’s Scope That said, while it is smart for Nancy’s spinoff book to fill in the plentiful blanks between seasons 4 and 5, this doesn’t mean that the franchise’s approach is foolproof. The first spinoff show takes place between seasons 2 and 3, while this spinoff novel takes place between seasons 4 and 5. This limits the scope of the franchise. Unlike, for example, the Yellowstone franchise, which uses prequels and sequels to make its world feel bigger and more immersive, Stranger Things favors delving deeper into existing characters and settings with interquels. This is an unusual approach, and the creators should be given credit for originality. However, Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have also admitted on the record that they struggle to limit the number of characters in the show's ever-expanding cast list. As a result, it does feel as though these new shows and books are a way to tidy up loose ends, rather than tell entirely original stories set in the same fictional universe. Stranger Things’ Nancy Spinoff Can Solve One Series Problem A great spinoff should feel like it exists in tandem with its predecessor, but brings a fresh new perspective to the world of the franchise. The easiest way to do this is to set the spinoff in a new time, a new place, and/or to populate it with new characters. The fewer of these elements are present, the less it feels like something truly new. Stranger Things: One Way or Another and Tales from ’85 could be just as good as Stranger Things season 5 volume 1, but they are undeniably still part of the original series. They take place at the same time, follow the same characters, and share the same setting. There are a lot of unanswered questions between seasons 4 and 5, and many more between seasons 2 and 3. Stranger Things: One Way Or Another and Tales from ’85 can, at least, fill in these blanks and make the story more cohesive. However, only time will tell whether these expansions are enough to keep interest in the Stranger Things franchise alive. 543 9.1/10 8/10 Stranger Things 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock 7 Images Close Cast See All Genres Drama, Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction Creator Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Powered by Expand Collapse
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