The impact Netflix’s Stranger Things has had on the cultural zeitgeist can’t be overstated, with a decade-long grip that posed a precarious prospect for wrapping up the beloved sci-fi series. While the finale proved divisive, fans still seemed eager for further adventures in Hawkins, Indiana, with spin-offs in development. Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is the first follow-up that had plenty to prove. The story takes place between Season 2 and Season 3 of the original series, meaning it needs to weave into an established timeline and lore, along with integrating a new cast and animated aesthetics that reinterpret characters audiences already love. Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 had big shoes to fill and a tightrope to walk, while failing to pull off either perfectly.
Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 quickly lets viewers know things will be different when the theme song hits, tingling eardrums with familiar notes, only to shift into an original version for the new show. While this establishes the changes on display with a musical cue, the theme is a step down from the original, almost like a bad omen of things to come. The year is established as the winter of 1985, after Eleven closed the rift to the Upside Down at the end of Season 2. Audiences are treated to a unique creature that has never appeared on the show before, which is killed by a mysterious figure in a yellow hazmat suit. The monster’s death triggers it to release spores into the air, kicking off the latest threat that will plague the protagonists throughout the 10-episode season.
Tales from ’85 is said to have originated as a canceled Telltale video game, with its animation style in line with the studio’s library. The animation is smooth and captures the characters’ likenesses, but the show isn’t a visually stunning masterpiece by any means. It uses brighter colors than the live-action show to set itself apart, but visual flair can only go so far. Thankfully, hearing the new voice actors bringing the animated iterations to life for the first time is a true win for the series, with Eleven (Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Mike (Luca Diaz), Will (Benjamin Plessala), Lucas (Elisha Williams), and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) being the central figures for the season.
There are other beloved characters from Stranger Things who pop up throughout the season, including Hopper, Joyce, Nancy, and Steve, but they have only minor appearances, with the narrative staying close to the young protagonists. Audiences meet the show’s latest additions, including Nikki Baxter (Odessa A’zion), the new kid in town who becomes an integral part of the journey. Nikki’s mom, Anna Baxter (Janeane Garofalo), is established as a new teacher with a scientific background, and she’s dating Daniel Fischer (Lou Diamond Phillips), who runs the local convenience store. Nikki is a solid addition to the group, serving as an outsider who learns information alongside the audience, and her style is a distinct change from the other kids’.
While she has her save-the-cat moment by stopping Will from being bullied, Nikki doesn’t get folded into things until a bit later, when she is caught in the middle of an attack by the latest Upside-Down threat. The spores released at the start spread through Hawkins, which starts a cycle of infection that allows new creatures to run rampant, even with the gate to the Upside Down still firmly closed after the Season 2 finale. This establishes a mystery that spurs Dustin to create the Hawkins Investigators Club (H.I.C.), which becomes its own version of Scooby-Doo‘s Mystery Inc. This setup fuels the season, with the young protagonists chasing leads, enlisting other townsfolk, and uncovering how the mysterious spores came to be.
The voice acting will likely be one of the first things most viewers notice. Overall, the new cast does a fantastic job of bringing known characters to life, often sounding impeccably close to their live-action counterparts without feeling like poor imitations. While some voices stand out as clearly different, with Hopper (Brett Gipson) the most noticeable, that’s not a strike against the actor, who delivers a capable performance, but rather a result of expectations. The show knows the characters well, allowing them to feel genuine to the source material. Relationships like Lucas and Max feel like they are in the right place for the time, with Dustin and Steve’s friendship continuing to be a standout element of Tales from ’85. The biggest drawback to just how great Dustin and Steve are together is the latter’s lack of screen time.
There are several action sequences that are genuinely fun to watch, despite the direction leaving a bit to be desired, with the gang getting caught up in fights with creatures infected by the spores that start snatching up Hawkins residents. These moments continue Stranger Things‘ fantastic use of music, as the latest show’s soundtrack selections are exceptional. Tales from ’85 features a few notable needle drops, like Episode 2’s use of Black Sabbath or Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” during one episode’s clear homage to the race home from the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. There are plenty of other classic references too, with the show giving nods to A Nightmare on Elm Street, Alien, and It, among others.
One of the most glaring problems plaguing the Stranger Things spin-off is the lack of tension and true mystery. Given the focus on the young protagonists, audiences know they ultimately can’t die or come to severe harm at this point in the show’s established timeline, meaning deadly circumstances don’t pose real threats. The mystery also lacks intrigue, as the only suspects are the newly introduced characters, leaving audiences with a minuscule list that isn’t all that hard to run down. Tales from ’85 takes great care to explain how the new monsters came to be, which often results in stories built on exposition rather than engrossing twists and turns.
There are moments of tension that feel artificially manufactured, such as a rift between Mike and Will that doesn’t feel genuine, and characters like Rosario, introduced as a major antagonist to Dustin, even though she’s never been mentioned on the show before. Certain episodes begin to feel like filler, with Episode 5 being particularly weak, serving as a disappointing follow-up to Dustin and Steve’s adventure in Episode 4, which is easily one of the season’s best. Sadly, the finale is also built on rehashed ideas that continue to lack suspense. The stakes have never been higher, with the group facing off against one of the largest monsters to date. Audiences will likely recognize what needs to be done because it’s just the Season 2 finale all over again.
Tales from ’85 dangles numerous ways to tie a bow on the new characters, allowing them to disappear, even if never mentioning them again would be odd. However, the show doesn’t capitalize on any of those, letting Nikki stick around and even teasing more from the spores. This decision solidifies a series of lackluster choices, as the events of the show and Nikki’s relationship to Stranger Things‘ core heroes are too big to ignore. Simply saying the characters are too preoccupied in later seasons to mention their run-in with the spores and their new Dungeons and Dragons buddy, Nikki, is absurd, and it fulfills many fans’ fears about the narrow window the spin-off attempts to fill. If the show wasn’t meant to be canon, it doesn’t clarify that point, leaving the finale in an awkward place. There are series hallmarks to enjoy, with a great soundtrack and solid character performances, but Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 has far too many continuity flaws, feeling like an aberration rather than a proper spin-off.
- Release Date
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April 23, 2026
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Eric Robles
- Directors
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Phil Allora
- Writers
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Jennifer Muro
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Brooklyn Davey Norstedt
Eleven
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Odessa A’zion
Nikki Baxter
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
