Netflix Finally Unveils ‘Stranger Things’ “Lost Episodes” After Season 5 Backlash
Netflix’s expanding Stranger Things universe continues to build momentum beyond the original flagship series, with multiple projects already in motion following the divisive conclusion of Season 5 last December.
Alongside tie-ins already released during Season 5’s run, such as a new spinoff novel, a Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 expansion, and additional in-game content for the online asymmetrical multiplayer title Dead by Daylight, the franchise is shifting into a broader media slate that keeps Hawkins and the Upside Down firmly in our collective psyche.
As of April 23, that expansion will include Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 (2026), a 3D animated series set between seasons 2 and 3 of the main flagship show. The project brings back all the familiar characters including Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max, all of them voiced by a new cast.
Showrunner Eric Robles has described the series as a “lost season,” focused on a period where the group were dealing with smaller-scale threats rather than world-ending stakes.
Watch the second official trailer for Tales From ’85 below:
Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Set for Major Return With Millie Bobby Brown | Disney Dining
Now, Netflix India has released the first six minutes of the opening episode ahead of the series premiere, offering an early look at the tone and style of the project.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.
The sequence opens in Hawkins during the winter, introducing a hazmat-clad scientist tracking a creature through a snow-covered forest. After the new titles sequence, the episode, “Welcome to Hawkins, New Kid,” introduces all the familiar faces and some signature ’80s synth. You can watch the full first six minutes of the new series below:
Per Netflix, the official logline for Tales From ’85 reads:
“In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading. Our heroes Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights, and quiet days. But beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened. Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely? Our heroes must race to solve this mystery and save Hawkins in this new story set in the Stranger Things universe.”
Tales From ’85 stars Luca Diaz (Mike), Alessandra Antonelli (Nancy), Alysia Reiner (Karen), Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Max), Elisha Williams (Lucas), Brooklyn Davey Norstedt (Eleven), Brett Gipson (Jim), Braxton Quinney (Dustin), Ben Plessala (Will), Odessa A’zion (Nikki Baxter), Jeremy Jordan (Steve Harrington), and Jonathan (voice actor not confirmed).
The extended voice cast also includes Janeane Garofalo (Anna Baxter), Lou Diamond Phillips (Daniel Fischer), Valeria Rodriguez (Rosario), Jack Griffo (Jeff), and Robert Englund (Cosmo), who previously appeared as Victor Creel in Season 4.
Here’s hoping Tales From ’85 lands better with viewers and critics than Stranger Things Season 5, which concluded on December 31, 2025 and was met with significant backlash, particularly following its finale, “The Rightside Up.” Fans launched online petitions demanding new cuts of the entire seasons while others were convinced the last episode was fake and that a new one would follow (of course, that never happened).
Despite that response, Netflix continues to expand the franchise rather than slow its output, with several additional projects already in development, including a live-action spinoff series and a filmed version of the Broadway stage production The First Shadow.
According to recent reports, a spinoff titled Stranger Things: The Storyteller and the Mage is also in development at Netflix, with actors Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard expected to return as Eleven and Mike.
Stranger Things Seasons 1 — 5
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 5 are now streaming on Netflix.
Stranger Things Season 5 stars Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Brett Gelman (Murray Bauman), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/Henry Creel), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).
Are you excited about Tales From ’85? What do you think about the new cast taking over these iconic characters? Let us know in the comments below!
