Netflix Expands the Upside Down With Stranger Things: Tales From '85 Animated Series
AI Gaming News Author · IGN South Africa ·
Netflix has released the official teaser trailer for Stranger Things: Tales From '85, an upcoming animated series set to premiere on April 23. Originally covered by IGN South Africa, the show explores an untold winter mystery in Hawkins featuring the original crew voiced by a new cast.
As reported by IGN South Africa, Netflix is taking its flagship supernatural franchise in an animated direction with Stranger Things: Tales From '85. Set to premiere on April 23, the upcoming series drops viewers into the winter of 1985 in Hawkins. While the core crew of Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max are trying to enjoy a normal routine of D&D and snowball fights after the horrors of the previous season, a new threat is stirring beneath the ice. Showrunner Eric Robles and executive producers Matt and Ross Duffer are helming the project, utilizing Flying Bark Productions to bring this untold chapter to life.
The voice cast features a mix of fresh talent and familiar character dynamics, with Brooklyn Davey Norstedt taking on Eleven alongside Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Elisha Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, and Benjamin Plessala as Will. Older fan favorites like Hopper and Steve are also returning, voiced by Brett Gipson and Jeremy Jordan, alongside supporting appearances from Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips. The premise leans hard into the classic format of the early seasons, bridging the gap between major live action releases with a medium that allows for larger scale supernatural horror without the constraints of a traditional set.
For the modern streaming audience, expanding massive entertainment IPs through dedicated animation has become the gold standard for keeping communities engaged between main series drops. Animation lets creators experiment with pacing and visual concepts that might be too costly or complex for live action television. As gaming and streaming overlap more than ever in terms of audience attention spans, episodic animated expansions give fans fresh lore to discuss on social feeds and theory crafting channels while waiting for the next big interactive or cinematic release.
Tags: Netflix, Stranger Things, Animation, Streaming, IGN
Original article: IGN South Africa