For many Stranger Things fans, the upcoming animated series Tales From ’85 will break canon, but for others, it might fix some of Season 5’s biggest problems.
The new series takes place between seasons 2 and 3 of the flagship series, during the winter following the defeat of the Mind Flayer. But while it introduces several new supernatural threats, it will reunite audiences with the main Stranger Things ensemble — although none of the actors from the main series are returning.
Stranger Things Has Been Recast
The new voice cast includes Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Luca Diaz as Mike Wheeler, Braxton Quinney as Dustin Henderson, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas Sinclair, Benjamin Plessala as Will Byers, and Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max Mayfield. Brett Gipson voices Jim Hopper, while Jeremy Jordan plays Steve Harrington.
New characters are also joining. Odessa A’zion voices newcomer Nikki Baxter, with Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips rounding out the cast in undisclosed roles.
Produced by Flying Bark Productions alongside Netflix and the Duffer Brothers’ Upside Down Pictures banner, the series has already released its first trailer. Watch it below:
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Tales From ’85 Will Scale Things Back
While the show will feature new monsters and strange encounters, its creative team has suggested the stakes will be smaller and more personal than what viewers saw in the franchise’s recent finale.
Speaking to Empire in February, showrunner Eric Robles explained that the animated series intentionally brings the story back to its roots.
“You could easily take this and make it the live-action version,” he said. “We wanted to go back to Hawkins and feel like a lost season.” He adds that it goes back to “when the kids weren’t trying to save the world — they were just trying to save the town.”
That shift could appeal to fans who felt the main series drifted too far from its original formula in its final season.
Season 5 Controversies
When Stranger Things premiered in 2016, the show was praised for its smaller-scale storytelling — a mix of suburban mystery, supernatural horror, and kids on bikes investigating strange events in their hometown.
But Season 5 finale, which premiered on December 31, proved divisive among viewers.
While the season delivered large-scale spectacle and a climactic battle, some fans argued the show had grown too epic for its own good, with the series leaning heavily into epic fantasy territory, with world-ending stakes that felt far removed from its early small-town sci-fi mystery.
Online debates ranged from the viral “Conformity Gate” theory to an online petition calling for an alternate ending.
If Robles’ comments are any indication, Tales From ’85 may offer something closer to those earlier days — when the biggest concern wasn’t saving the world.
The new series premieres April 23 exclusively on Netflix.
Stranger Things seasons 1 — 5 are now streaming on Netflix.
Are you excited to return to Hawkins — and do you think smaller stakes are exactly what the franchise needs? Let us know in the comments!
