Stranger Things is dead, long live Stranger Things. Netflix’s hit 1980s sci-fi horror series dominated pop culture for almost a decade, but in the last hours of 2025, we watched it all end with a bang, then a whimper, and then a 40-minute epilogue. By the end, some things were wrapped up, like Eleven’s sacrifice and possible survival, while other things were left dangling, like all those pregnant women who were seemingly blown up with the rest of the Upside Down or the fact that Joyce and Hopper went to high school with Henry Creel and just never noticed onscreen.
But the show will live on by doing what it does best: showing a past we’re nostalgic for. Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 will show new adventures of the Hawkins gang in brilliant animation, but could it replace the show that sparked it? It’s easy to see how it could — but it also could be a huge risk.
