5 Stranger Things Characters Who Could Return In Spin-Off Series Other Worlds

Netflix is returning to “Stranger Things,” with the streamer announcing a new prequel series set nearly 30 years before the original show. But showrunners Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, and Kate Trefry may not be the only people returning to the franchise. Plenty of other characters in “Stranger Things” were alive 30 years before the events of the original series, and any one of them could make an appearance in “Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure.”

After Netflix announced the new series, the Duffer Brothers provided a few clues about how it may connect to what we’ve seen so far. “It’s Stranger Things, but also thrillingly fresh, with a new setting, new heroes and villains, and new … actually, we’re not allowed to say any more,” they told Tudum. Meanwhile, the first teaser trailer revealed that “Other Worlds” will take place in a new town — Marion, Nevada — in 1955. 

Notably, this places “Other Worlds” in the timeline just four years before “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” takes place. This canon stage play established the backstory of Vecna, aka Henry Creel, and featured younger versions of many of the adult characters from “Stranger Things,” including Dr. Brenner, Joyce Byers, and Jim Hopper. Since the timeline isn’t too far removed from that play, there’s a strong chance we could see these characters (and more) in the prequel series.

Most of the bad things that happen in “Stranger Things” are caused by the actions of Matthew Modine’s character, Dr Martin Brenner, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s up to mischief again in “Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure.” From Season 1 of the original series, Dr Martin Brenner appears as a shadowy government scientist who often claims to want to save the world — while actively creating threats to it.

It was Brenner who captured Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) and attempted to use him to create more superpowered children. This, of course, led to the massacre of most of those children, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) opening a gateway to the Upside Down, and all the trouble that ensued as a result. Brenner’s pursuit of power ultimately leads to his death in Season 4, but the new show could still explore his past before he arrives in Hawkins. 

“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” actually offers a clue that Brenner could be a central part of the prequel series. The play reveals that, in 1943, Brenner’s father took part in an experiment gone wrong: His ship, the USS Eldridge, and its crew was briefly transported to the Abyss (the dimension dominated by the Mind Flayer); only Captain Brenner survived. The younger Brenner later sought the truth about this event and even recreated it in Nevada … which happens to be where “Other Worlds” is set. If the next “Stranger Things” adventure is indeed about exploring other worlds, Brenner must surely be involved.

If Brenner returns in “Other Worlds,” then the prequel series must also feature the other great “Stranger Things” villain: Vecna. At this point in the timeline, Vecna is simply Henry Creel, a young boy living with his family in Nevada. Season 5 and the Broadway show reveal that Henry only gains his supernatural powers after he encounters a spy while exploring caves in Rachel, Nevada; after this, he’s transported into the Abyss and becomes infected by the Mind Flayer.

The spy in question received the technology that transports Henry from the labs used for Brenner’s Nevada Experiment. This means the prequel series could explore the series of unfortunate events that turn young Henry into a mass killer. He may not star in the first season, but perhaps “Other Worlds” could end with the spy entering some recognizable caves and encountering a young boy?

Henry and his family may also appear in other scenes in the show. We technically don’t know what town Henry grew up in — only that he was in the caves around Rachel when he met that spy. He could easily be from Marion, though, or he could visit from a town nearby. Either way, there’s a good chance we get at least a glimpse of Henry Creel in the new “Stranger Things” prequel.

The third villain who could show up in “Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure” is the Mind Flayer. This is the being from the Abyss who’s revealed to be the actual mastermind controlling Vecna in the final season of “Stranger Things.” If the show involves other dimensions, and especially the Abyss, there’s no reason why the Mind Flayer would not show up, even briefly.

Though the Mind Flayer appeared in “Stranger Things” from Season 2, possessing humans and rat bodies along the way, its intentions were generally left mysterious. We know it lives in the Abyss, but we do not know if it originated from there, nor how it got its abilities or how it transfers those abilities to humans. We don’t even know how it first made a connection with Earth.

With this prequel, the showrunners have an opportunity to make up for that Season 5 finale, which disappointed fans to the point that they actually came up with the so-called “Conformity Gate” theory, suggesting that there was another ending in store. This could give them the chance to dive into the backstory of the Abyss and the Mind Flayer and retroactively establish their significance and, in the Mind Flayer’s case, motivations — something the main series was unable to do. 

Considering the showrunners of “Other Worlds” seem keen on introducing new characters to the scene, it’s unlikely that any more “Stranger Things” stalwarts will play a major role in “Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure.” The terrifying monsters, including the Demogorgons, might show up, but the kids won’t be born yet, Henry Creel won’t yet have moved to Hawkins, and many of the adult characters from the first show won’t be relevant to the story.

But there is a case for the series featuring a couple of cameos from “Stranger Things,” and one of them is likely to be Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder). At this point in the timeline, Joyce is known as Joyce Maldonado since she hasn’t married Lonnie Byers yet — and she’s a kid herself. In fact, in “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” Joyce forms her own mystery team, just like her future children will, to solve the random animal deaths going on in Hawkins. Henry Creel turns out to be the one killing the animals accidentally due to his powers, but it’s all pinned on Henry’s father.

Joyce is one of the most significant characters in “Stranger Things,” assisting the younger heroes through every struggle against the Mind Flayer, Vecna, and the Upside Down. So, there’s a high chance the Duffer Brothers are cooking up a cameo from her, not least because it would delight the fans. Yes, Hawkins, Indiana may be thousands of miles away from Nevada, but who knows? Maybe Joyce ought to take a vacation.

Jim Hopper (David Harbour) could also feasibly show up in the new “Stranger Things” prequel series. Hopper would be a teenager in 1955, and he appears in “Strange Things: The First Shadow” as part of Joyce’s mystery squad.

Hopper’s dad is also a police chief in Hawkins, which may make his cameo a little easier to work in. Since the mystery in Marion, Nevada is likely to stir up some trouble, authorities could be brought in from other towns — or states — to help the situation. Maybe Hopper’s dad is called to Marion, and Hopper tags along on the trip?

It would certainly be ironic for Hopper to turn up in town just in time to encounter the dimension-hopping chaos that will almost kill him and wreck his life in multiple ways. Hopper is a hard-edged person when we meet him in “Stranger Things” Season 1, and while his skepticism of all things supernatural might make him hard to get into “Other Worlds,” it would no doubt be interesting to revisit the boy who will become a hero.