Stranger Things returns in 2026: Tales From ’85 is on Netflix

Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 hit Netflix on April 23, 2026. It’s an animated Stranger Things spin-off set between seasons 2 and 3, and it brought the franchise back in cartoon form rather than with another live-action season. Netflix has already renewed it for season 2, with that announcement landing on September 17.

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Just don’t mix up Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 with the main Stranger Things series, which wrapped with season 5 in late 2025. Netflix rolled out episodes 1 through 4 on November 26, then episodes 5 through 7 on December 25, with the finale arriving on December 31. That last run followed Eleven and the Hawkins crew as they stopped Vecna and the Mind Flayer, sealed the Upside Down portal, and finally got some emotional closure after Holly Wheeler’s disappearance was folded into Vecna’s plan.

So if you were waiting for the original Stranger Things cast to come back, Tales from ’85 is really only useful as a bridge. Season 5’s ending left viewers split over the big character beats, the pacing, the uneven writing, and the lore threads it never fully answered. Netflix also still has a live-action spin-off in development, this one centered on new characters and new mysteries, while Stranger Things: Tokyo still hasn’t been confirmed.

You can stream Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 on Netflix now, and Stranger Things is still one of the platform’s signature originals.