Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is just a month away from its Netflix debut. The animated series is set two years before the events of Stranger Things Season 5, which unfolds in 1987. Canonically, Tales From ’85 unfolds between Stranger Things Seasons 2 and 3. This week, we received a massive update about the animated spin-off.
Taking a page from the final season, it seems that the animated show is following a similar release strategy as Stranger Things Season 5. Like the final season, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will premiere a week earlier than its April 23, 2026, Netflix debut.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 theatrical release date:
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is releasing in select cinema halls in the US on April 18, 2026. Fans can attend these screenings at AMC theaters and at the Netflix House in Philadelphia and the Paris Theater in New York. Netflix confirmed the theatrical screenings for Tales From ’85 through a press release, which reads:
“Itching to reunite with your favorite nerds in Hawkins? Grab your radios and call your party to assemble for a theatrical experience fit for the whole family: an early screening of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Ride out with your crew for limited screenings of the first two episodes of the upcoming animated series from showrunner Eric Robles and executive produced by the Duffer Brothers ahead of its global debut on Netflix on April 23. Don’t miss out on this special event. Select screenings will take place on Saturday, April 18, at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. local time in 34 theaters across the US. You can also catch showings at the Paris Theater in New York and Netflix House Philadelphia. Attendees will also receive an exclusive collectible while supplies last. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 18, at 8 a.m. PT. Head to AMCTheatres.com for the full list of theaters and showtimes near you, and to download tickets.”
What is Tales From ’85 about?
The animated show unfolds between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series. Therefore, we would be watching the “younger” versions of all the characters than the ones we saw in seasons 4 and 5 of Stranger Things. This is why every character will be voiced by different actors than the ones we saw in the original series. The cast of Tales From ’85 includes:
- Brooklyn Davey Norstedt: Eleven / Jane Hopper
- Brett Gipson: Jim Hopper
- Braxton Quinney: Dustin Henderson
- Luca Diaz: Mike Wheeler
- Elisha Williams: Lucas Sinclair
- Jolie Hoang-Rappaport: Max Mayfield
- Ben Plessala: Will Byers
- Odessa A’zion: Nikki Baxter
- Jeremy Jordan: Steve Harrington
“Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, which is set in the Stranger Things universe, picks up with Eleven (voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Mike (Luca Diaz), Will (Benjamin Plessala), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Lucas (Elisha “EJ” Williams), and Max (In Your Dreams’s Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) in the winter of 1985. The horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading, and the kids have settled back into a normal life of Dungeons & Dragons and snowball fights. But something terrifying has awakened beneath the snow blanketing Hawkins, and it’s up to our crew to solve this mystery and save the town before it’s too late.”
Showrunner Eric Robles teased a mystery that would span the entire first season of Tales From ’85 in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last December. Robles also hinted at new creatures in the same interview, saying that the spin-off would include:
“A lot of f*eaking cool monsters. The stakes are real for the kids. It’s not Scooby-Doo, man. It’s not like, ‘Oh, well, it’ll be fine.’ We don’t know if it’ll be fine.”
Tales From ’85 streams on Netflix from April 23, 2026.
Edited by Ravikumar N