All About the 2 New Shows

After nearly a decade, Stranger Things has officially come to an end.

The fifth and final season of the beloved Netflix sci-fi show wrapped on Dec. 31, but luckily, there are already other ways for fans to get their Hawkins fix. Ahead of the season finale, Netflix announced two Stranger Things spinoffs that fans can look forward to.

In 2023, the streamer first announced that they were working on an animated show, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. The series is set in the winter of 1985 in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind., and will feature the original characters.

In addition to the animated series, Netflix also revealed that they’re working on a live-action spinoff, which co-creators and brothers Matt and Ross Duffer described as a “clean slate.” Unlike the animated series, the unnamed spinoff will be connected to the Stranger Things universe but include new characters and timeframes.

For those fans who just cannot wait for either of the shows, they can seek out the Broadway prequel play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which opened its doors in New York City in April 2025.

Here’s everything to know about all of the Stranger Things spinoffs.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85

The Stranger Things animated series, titled Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, will hit Netflix sometime in 2026. The animated show, which was produced by Stranger Things showrunner Eric Robles and co-creators Duffer Brothers, was first announced in 2023 before getting a first look in November 2025.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will take place between seasons 2 and 3 and feature the original characters with new voice actors.

“Welcome back to Hawkins in the stark winter of 1985, where the original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town,” the official description reads.

The Duffer Brothers announced the first look in a video, with Matt sharing, “The idea was kind of to evoke a feeling of an ’80s cartoon.” Robles added in the announcement, “We soon learn that nothing is quite as they thought it was.”

Meanwhile, Ross shared that they came up with the idea while brainstorming other storylines they could play with inside Hawkins.

“When we started talking about was there anything else we wanted to do with Stranger Things, this was one of our first ideas,” Ross teased.

Netflix also shared the new cast voicing the beloved original characters. Brooklyn Davey Norstedt will play the role of Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport will portray Max, Luca Diaz will act as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams will be Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin and Benjamin Plessala will play Will and Brett Gipson will portray Hopper. Other cast members include Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Untitled Live-Action Series

As soon as Stranger Things wrapped on Dec. 31, the Duffer brothers announced that they were already in the “very early days on a live-action spinoff.” Ross clarified that Stranger Things is the “end of the story for these characters of Hawkins, for the Upside Down,” and the spinoff will introduce a new time period and characters.

“It’s a different decade and different characters, but of course, still connected to the Stranger Things universe,” Ross explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Dec. 25. “It’s an idea we’ve had for years and something we’re just really excited and passionate about.”

While Ross and Matt will both be “heavily involved” in the making of the show, they will not be the showrunners.

“As the new year comes around, we’re going to start spending more time on that” Ross said. “Hopefully it’s something announced soon-ish.”

Matt added that the spinoff has “been so fun to work on,” because it’s “really more of the style of storytelling.” He added, “It’s very fun to start to develop a new mythology and new characters. It’s been a blast.”

While the Duffers have kept tight-lipped on the exact plot of the spinoff, they teased that it may have some ties back to the original Stranger Things stories, but it will be “very fresh and very new.”

“It will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining,” Matt told Variety in an interview published Jan. 1.

An official title, synopsis, release date and cast has not yet been announced.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Until the Stranger Things spinoff and animated series come to Netflix, fans can still enjoy the universe with the Stranger Things: The First Shadow play. The stage show — which was written by Kate Refry from an original story by the Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorne — has been running on Broadway since April 2025.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow serves as a prequel to the hit TV show. The play goes back in time to Hawkins in 1959 — 20 years before the series takes place — and tells the story of Hopper, Joyce Maldonado (later Joyce Byers) and Bob Newby as students themselves. However, their typical lives take a major twist when new student Henry Creel joins the students.

“The Creel family seeks a fresh start — especially their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past,” the Broadway description reads. “Everything changes when he meets Patty, a fellow outsider, and their budding romance gives Henry hope for the first time. But when a wave of shocking crimes strikes the town, Henry is forced to confront a terrifying truth: is something inside him that connects him to the horrors unfolding around him?”

Louis McCartney starred in both the West End and the Broadway productions as Henry, while Burke Swanson plays Hopper and Alison Jaye portrays Joyce. The cast also includes T.R. Knight, Alex Breaux, Gabrielle Nevaeh, Rosie Benton, Juan Carlos, Ted Koch, Jamie Martin Mann and Dora Dolphin.