As Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 Spinoff Reveals First Footage, I’m Hoping These Major Season 3 Blanks Are Filled In

Netflix has one final Stranger Things Day to celebrate before the end of the original series in the 2025 TV schedule, but the fifth and final season doesn’t mean the end of the Upside Down on the small screen. The first footage for the upcoming animated spinoff, called Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85, shows a key way that the stories of the beloved characters will continue beyond the end of Season 5, and it leaves me crossing my fingers that some Season 3 blanks will be filled in.

What To Expect From Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85

The animated spinoff will take place in Hawkins during the winter of 1985, which fans will recall falls between the happy Snow Ball ending of Season 2 and the summer fun-turned-chaos of Season 3. The characters will have new monsters to face while digging into a paranormal mystery that’s terrorizing their town. While there were originally questions about whether or not the story would be canon to the live-action series, the Duffer Brothers’ comments in the first look indicate that fans can probably count the events of Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 as part of the official timeline. Take a look:

If you’re anything like me, you expected the animation style for Tales from ‘85 to appear a lot more 2D and something that might fit as part of a Saturday morning cartoon lineup in the ‘80s. Instead, the spinoff definitely looks like a product of the 21st century, and that’s not a bad thing as far as I’m concerned. The planned release is in 2026, and available to anybody with a Netflix subscription.

The Duffer Brothers are on board as executive producers, with Fanboy & Chum Chum’s Eric Robles as the showrunner. One element of the show that may come as a disappointment for fans of the original series is that the live-action performers won’t be lending their voices.

The cast includes Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Ej (Elisha) Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Ben Plessala as Will, and Brett Gipson as Hopper, as well as Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamond Philips in undisclosed roles.

My Hopes For Tales From ‘85

I’ve been excited about the prospect of an animated Stranger Things series going back to when it was first announced in 2023, and my biggest questions ever since have admittedly been about whether the story would be canon to the live-action series. That’s still not 100% clear, but the footage of the key characters in their familiar outfits (not to mention the fact that even animated Mike can look swoony about Eleven) has me thinking about the timeline.

The Season 2 finale has always been one of my very favorite episodes of the series, while the third season is my least favorite out of the four so far. The huge shift in tone from the spookiness of the first two seasons to the more comedic blockbuster nature of Season 3 always felt abrupt to me, despite the hiatus of nearly two years between their releases.

I’m hoping that Tales From ‘85’s place in the timeline will fill in some blanks to set the stage for where the characters are in early Season 3. That’s not to say that I expect the animated series to cram in all of Max and Lucas’ breakups, spend tons of time on Mike and Eleven making out, include full episodes about the construction of Starcourt Mall, or add every moment leading to Hopper's aggressive personality change, but this could be a transition between the two seasons that feel the least connected out of the four so far.

Plus, as I’ve learned from shows like Star Wars Rebels, franchises can be very fun when they expand out into animation, and it doesn’t hurt to have iconic characters recast from the live-action actors to voice actors. Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 is something for fans of the Upside Down stories to enjoy even after the original has come to an end. As for what it means for the continuity of the franchise if the show is canon… well, we’ll have to wait and see.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 hasn’t received an official premiere date yet in the 2026 TV schedule at the time of writing, but Volume 1 of the original series’ fifth and final season is quickly approaching. The first four episodes will be available with a Netflix subscription starting on November 26, followed by the next three on December 25 and the series finale on December 31.