Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 – Is 2026 the Date? Everything We Know About the Timeline and Cast
Netflix is rewinding to 1985 with Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, an animated spin-off dropping in 2026 as the flagship series wraps. Already greenlit for two seasons produced back-to-back, the series is led by showrunner Eric Robles of Glitch Techs and Fanboy.
Stranger Things is inching toward the finish line, but Netflix is not leaving Hawkins behind. The next stop: an animated spinoff called 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85' that jumps back into the chaos between Seasons 2 and 3. Yes, we are going back to 1985, and yes, the Upside Down is still very bad news.
What it is and when it lands
The show is confirmed for Spring 2026, which basically means think March through May on Netflix. The story wedges itself neatly between Season 2 (set in Fall 1984) and Season 3 (Summer 1985), zeroing in on the dead-of-winter months in Hawkins. It is animated, it is canon, and it is designed to feel like a Saturday-morning nightmare in the best way.
'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 short version
- Title: 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85'
- Format and vibe: Animated series; a sci-fi/horror/mystery that keeps the show’s character-driven drama intact but leans into a cartoon-forward visual style
- Platform: Netflix
- Release window: Spring 2026 (no exact date yet), realistically March–May
- Timeline/setting: Hawkins, Indiana, during winter 1985, between Season 2 and Season 3
- Canon status: Canon, filling in the gap between the live-action seasons
- Showrunner: Eric Robles (Glitch Techs, Fanboy), who is also an executive producer
- Executive producers: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Eric Robles, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Hilary Leavitt
- Animation studio: Flying Bark Productions
- Season order: Already picked up for two seasons, being produced back-to-back
- Voice cast (the kid roles are recast for animation): Eleven - Brooklyn Davey Norstedt; Mike - Luca Diaz; Will - Benjamin Plessala; Lucas - Elisha "EJ" Williams; Dustin - Braxton Quinney; Max - Jolie Hoang-Rappaport; Hopper - Brett Gipson
- Premise angle: Hawkins Lab science collides with new Upside Down phenomena
- New creatures: Upside Down Pumpkin Zombies, Human/Upside Down Vine hybrids, and yes, Minotaurs
Why this could matter (beyond the nostalgia hit)
Netflix confirming an animated, in-canon bridge while the flagship series is winding down is a smart way to keep the mythology moving. The two-season, produced-together approach is a notable behind-the-scenes choice for animation, and it suggests they are planning an arc with a clear midpoint rather than a wait-and-see renewal.
Also worth clocking: the central kids and Hopper have all been recast with voice actors for the cartoon, which makes sense timing-wise and should free the show up to play younger versions without the uncanny valley of sound-alikes. And if you were hoping for a simple monster-of-the-week, the creature list says otherwise. Pumpkin zombies and vine-people? Sure. Minotaurs? That is a swing.
We still do not know exactly how Stranger Things will sign off in live action, but this animated detour looks designed to fill in the winter the show skipped and to widen the lens on what the Upside Down was cooking right before the Starcourt summer.