The new show takes place in between seasons 2 and 3, and adopts an ’80s cartoon vibe.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 first look reveals animated spinoff’s setting and new cast

The new show takes place in between seasons 2 and 3, and adopts an '80s cartoon vibe.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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November 6, 2025 11:00 a.m. ET

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The kids return in 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85' first look. Credit:

- *Stranger Things: Tales From '85*, a new animated spinoff, is set between seasons 2 and 3 of the flagship series.

- A first look reveals familiar characters who are voiced by a new cast.

- "The idea was to evoke a feeling of an '80s cartoon," Matt Duffer, *Stranger Things* co-creator, said in a teaser.

*Stranger Things* is going back in time for Netflix's animated spinoff series, but not all the way back.

A first look at *Stranger Things: Tales From '85 *returns to Hawkins in the winter of 1985, which is in between the events of the flagship drama's second and third seasons.

The plot revolves around the original gang fighting new monsters and unraveling a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town. New imagery and a behind-the-scenes featurette, spotlighting the *Stranger Things* creators Matt and Ross Duffer, as well as *Tales From '85* showrunner Eric Robles, teases the creatures coming our way.

"What we've been able to capture is the magic of Hawkins in a new way," Robles said in the teaser.

'Stranger Things: Tales From '85' first look reveals the new monsters in Hawkins.

The sneak peek arrives Thursday for Netflix's official Stranger Things Day, which marks the in-world anniversary of the day Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) went missing in the Upside Down. Most of your favorite characters, including Will, are returning, too — just not the same actors.

Brooklyn Davey Norstedt (*WeCrashed*) will now voice Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (*In Your Dreams*) will voice Max, Luca Diaz (*Migration*) will voice Mike, Ej (Elisha) Williams (*The Wonder Years*) will voice Lucas, Braxton Quinney (*You Can't Take My Daughter*) will voice Dustin, Ben Plessala (*Turning Red*) will voice Will, and Brett Gipson (*Station 19*) will voice Hopper.

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Odessa A’zion (*I Love LA*), Janeane Garofalo (*Reality Bites*), and Lou Diamond Phillips (*Courage Under Fire*) will also voice undisclosed roles.

"When we started talking about, 'Was there anything else we wanna do with *Stranger Things*?' this was one of our first ideas," Ross Duffer said in the featurette.

Matt Duffer noted how "the idea was to evoke a feeling of an '80s cartoon."

The Duffers are involved in *Stranger Things: Tales From '85* as executive producers. Flying Bark Productions, which worked on Marvel's *What If...?* and *Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur*, is the animation house bringing the story to life.

A premiere date has not been set, but Netflix will release the new show in 2026.**

Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Joe Keery, Charlie Heaton, and Gaten Matarazzo on 'Stranger Things 5'.

Courtesy of Netflix

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Fans are currently gearing up for the premiere of *Stranger Things* season 5, which marks the conclusion to the pop culture phenomenon that began back in 2016. The first four episodes of the final season will arrive this Nov. 26, followed by the next three on Christmas Day and the series finale dropping simultaneously in select theaters and on Netflix on New Year's Eve.

The Duffers vaguely teased plans for more spinoffs. Most recently, Matt told *Variety*, “It’s so different than something like *Star Wars*. It doesn’t really work like that."

Ross also told the trade publication that a planned spinoff, as well as any others, would "live in a bit of a different world. There’s going to be connective tissue, but you’re almost anthologizing in a way. Because we’re not *Star Wars*. We can’t be like, ‘Oh, now we’re on this planet.’”**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW TV”