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The original Stranger Things series ended on December 31, 2025, after five seasons and nearly a decade of terrifying adventures in Hawkins. But Netflix was never going to let one of its biggest franchises simply fade into the Upside Down.
Less than four months after the finale, the universe is expanding again with an animated spinoff called Stranger Things: Tales from ’85. The whole core gang is back, there’s a bold new character joining the mix, and a new monster lurking under the snow. So, here’s everything you need to know before the animated Stranger Things show arrives.The series picks up in the winter of 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana. After the chaos of Season 2, things are supposed to be relatively calm for Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max. The gate to the Upside Down has been closed. The kids have settled back into the rhythms of normal teenage life, playing Dungeons and Dragons, having snowball fights, and enjoying some hard-earned quiet. But quiet, in Hawkins, never lasts.Beneath the ice and snow blanketing the town, something terrifying has awakened. The official blurb asks three questions that the show promises to answer: Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely? The gang must race to solve the mystery and save Hawkins once again, this time in a world rendered in a vivid animated style designed to capture the spirit of the 80s while still carrying real stakes.If you are wondering where this fits in the timeline, here’s what you need to know. Tales from ’85 is not a sequel, and it does not continue from the Season 5 finale. Instead, it fills in a gap that the main series always skipped over. Stranger Things covered a very specific timeline across its five seasons. Season 1 was set in the autumn of 1983. Season 2 followed in the autumn of 1984, ending with the Snow Ball dance in November of that year. Season 3 then jumped forward to the summer of 1985, opening with the Starcourt Mall already in full swing. Tales from ’85 is set in the winter months between Season 2 and Season 3 , when Eleven had just closed the gate, Will had returned from the Upside Down, and the couples formed at the Snow Ball were still new.One of the biggest talking points surrounding the show is its cast. None of the original live-action actors is returning to voice their characters, and the animated series has assembled an entirely new lineup of voice talent to take over the iconic roles.Nikki Baxter is the most significant new addition to the Stranger Things universe in Tales from ’85. She is described as a punk rock outsider and transfer student who arrives in Hawkins with zero interest in making friends. She sports a bold pink mohawk and a rebellious edge that immediately sets her apart from the existing group. Early visuals depict her wielding a sword-like weapon, suggesting she will take on a frontline combat role against the season’s new threat. Nikki Baxter is voiced by Odessa A’zion, currently one of Hollywood’s most in-demand young actors following her Oscar-nominated performance in Marty Supreme and a lead role in HBO’s I Love LA. The most important role in the story, however, is her relationship with Will Byers. Following Season 2’s Snow Ball dance, Mike and Eleven are now a couple, as are Lucas and Max. Will is left feeling like an outsider within his own friend group, a dynamic that echoes the broader arc of his character across the original series. Nikki gives Will someone he can genuinely open up to, someone who understands what it feels like to be different and on the outside looking in. Her character is designed as an entry point for new audiences, a character arriving in Hawkins with fresh eyes so that viewers unfamiliar with the original series can discover the world alongside her.The primary monster in Tales from ’85 is a new creature called the Snowshark. Unlike previous Stranger Things villains such as the Mind Flayer, Vecna, or the Demogorgon, the Snowshark is described as something that lurks specifically beneath Hawkins’ snow-covered streets. Showrunner Eric Robles says Snowshark is inspired by Jaws, drawing on the idea of something sinister hiding just out of sight beneath a surface you cannot see through. He described the concept as Hawkins Lab science meeting Upside Down matter, suggesting the creature may have origins connected to both. The series also features other new creatures, including pumpkin-headed demogorgons and vine-like monsters, giving the show a mix of adversaries rather than a single villain-of-the-season structure.This is probably the question fans have been debating the most since the show was announced, and the answer is a slightly complicated one — yes, but with an asterisk. The canon debate exists because of a gap in the Stranger Things timeline. At the end of Season 2, Eleven closes the gate to the Upside Down. Things are then relatively quiet in Hawkins until the Mind Flayer makes its move in the summer of Season 3. So how can the gang be fighting new supernatural creatures during the winter months in between, where do these monsters come from, and why does nobody ever mention any of it in Seasons 3, 4, or 5? Eric Robles addressed this in an interview with IGN. On the first question, his answer is that the show found a creative solution for how new creatures can exist during this supposedly quiet period, one he is not willing to spoil. Once the team figured out how to make that work, he says it opened up what he calls a mini-universe of adventures within that frozen stretch of time. On the second question, his answer is more straightforward. By the time Season 3 rolls around, the kids have bigger problems than pumpkin creatures. By Season 4, they are worrying about Vecna. Characters in Stranger Things do not tend to go back and reminisce about everything that happened in previous seasons, and the animated show is no different. The most telling thing Robles said on the subject, though, is this: you can easily remove this whole series from the timeline, and it never existed. Or, as he put it, you can choose to hang out with your best friends and go on new adventures.Based on everything the creative team has shared, the Stranger Things: Tales of ‘85 sits somewhere between fully canon and a fun side story. Matt and Ross Duffer are involved as executive producers, and the writing team worked carefully to ensure the characters land exactly where Season 3 needs them to be. You do not have to watch it to understand the core Stranger Things story. But if you want more time in Hawkins with these characters, there is plenty to enjoy here.The first season of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will be released on Netflix on April 23, 2026. All episodes will be available at once, so you can binge-watch. If you want to get ahead of the Netflix release, there is also a limited theatrical option. The first two episodes will screen in select AMC theaters across the US on April 18, five days before the TV series hits the platform.The first season has 10 episodes, with runtimes ranging from 24 to 28 minutes each. Here is the full breakdown based on figures reported by Cryptic HD Quality on X: In total, the season adds up to roughly four and a half to five hours of content, making it an easy watch across a single day if you choose to. The series also arrives at a meaningful moment for the franchise. Tales from ’85 premieres just as Stranger Things approaches its 10th anniversary in the summer of 2026, making it both a continuation of the universe and a celebration of how far the story has come since its debut in 2016.
Animated Series Netflix Spinoff Stranger Things Stranger Things Spinoff Stranger Things: Tales From '85
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