The world of Stranger Things will never truly leave us, and that’s not just because the Duffer Brothers are determined to drag the show’s fifth and final season out to inhuman lengths. Netflix is also working to expand the world – after Stranger Things Season 5 comes an animated spin-off, Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85.
Netflix set the stage for the new series earlier this year, teasing a shake-up to the Saturday morning cartoon format we’re all familiar with. Three months later, fans now have a better idea of what to expect, as Netflix offered a first look at Tales From ‘85 at the International Animation Film Festival in Annecy, France. Showrunner Eric Robles took the stage to reveal more about the series, which is set between Seasons 2 and 3 of the live-action original.
“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,” Robles said.
Robles went on to describe the unique challenges of crafting a new aesthetic for a world so many are already familiar with. “When you are given the responsibility to create a look for a Stranger Things animation, the fear of god is put in your soul,” he said. Whatever pressures he faced must have paid off, though. The early footage reportedly takes inspiration from Netflix’s Arcane and Sony’s Spider-Verse films, two hugely influential additions to a new school of animation.
Ever since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse premiered in 2018, other franchises have been seeking their own version of its painterly, occasionally glitchy mix of 2D and 3D. Netflix, with help from French animation studio Fortiche, achieved a similar feat with Arcane, and films like Nimona and the upcoming KPop Demon Hunters have put their own spin on it too. It sounds like Tales From ‘85 will follow the same path, which should be a good sign.
Apart from its setting and animation style, very little is known about Tales From ‘85. Prominent members of the Stranger Things cast — like Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Eleven, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Max Mayfield, and Jim Hopper — all appeared in the Annecy footage, and it’s safe to assume their actors will return to voice the characters. What “new monsters” they’ll be facing remains to be seen, but either way, the Stranger Things team might have found the perfect way to keep the series alive: freezing the Hawkins squad in time.
