Netflix has debuted the official trailer for ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’, the new animated spin-off which sends viewers back to Hawkins for another supernatural adventure this April.
Set during the winter of 1985, the 10-episode animated series drops back in with Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Max as life in Hawkins seems to have settled down again. With the horrors of the Upside Down apparently fading, the gang are back to snowball fights, D&D, and something resembling normality. Naturally, that does not last very long.
According to the synopsis, something terrifying has awakened beneath the ice, setting up a new mystery that pulls the gang back into danger. The series looks to keep the spirit of the original show intact, but with a more stylised animated twist, giving Netflix the chance to revisit one of the most beloved eras of the franchise while expanding the world beyond the live-action series.
The new show comes from showrunner Eric Robles, with the Duffer Brothers executive producing alongside Hilary Leavitt, Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Animation is handled by Flying Bark, which should give the series a sharp, energetic look that feels a good fit for a world filled with monsters, paranoia and kids on bikes stumbling into things they absolutely should not be investigating.
The voice cast includes Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (In Your Dreams) as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Ben Plessala as Will, Brett Gipson as Hopper, Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme, I Love LA) as new character Nikki Baxter, Jeremy Jordan as Steve, Janeane Garofalo as Anna Baxter and Lou Diamond Phillips as Daniel Fischer. Additional voices include Robert Englund as Cosmo, Alysia Reiner (Orange Is the New Black, The Diplomat) as Karen Wheeler, Alessandra Antonelli as Nancy Wheeler, Valeria Rodriguez as Rosario and Jack Griffo (The Thundermans, Alexa & Katie) as Jeff.
Nikki Baxter appears to be one of the key additions to the story, giving the animated series a fresh face to throw into the middle of the chaos, while still keeping the focus firmly on the core Hawkins crew fans already know and love.
With the live-action series now wrapped, ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ looks like a smart way for Netflix to keep the franchise going by dropping back into the timeline when the original gang were still at the centre of the story. It also gives them plenty of room to lean into the Saturday morning cartoon vibe while keeping the spooky, monster-filled edge that made ‘Stranger Things’ such a phenomenon in the first place.
‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ premieres Thursday, 23rd April 2026 on Netflix.
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