Stranger Things isn’t ending at season 5, the Upside Down is set to return in a way you cannot imagine

Stranger Things season 5 part 1 was released on Netflix on November 26, 2025. The fifth and final installment of the science fiction series will be released in three parts over two months.

The second part will be out on December 25, 2025, and the series finale will drop on December 31, 2025. Riding on the success of its five seasons, the Netflix series is gearing up to expand. Netflix has unveiled first-look images, a teaser, and the full voice cast for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. It is an animated series set in the winter of 1985. It will start streaming on the video streaming platform in 2026.

The new series takes place between Seasons 2 and 3, returning to Hawkins as the core group, now in animated form, faces new monsters and a fresh paranormal mystery. Netflix released a short first-look featurette and images alongside the casting announcement.

Casting of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85

Netflix named the primary voice actors as:

Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven

Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max

Luca Diaz as Mike

Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas

Braxton Quinney as Dustin

Ben Plessala as Will

Brett Gipson as Hopper

Additional voice talent announced includes Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Eric Robles serves as showrunner and executive producer. The Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, are executive producers via Upside Down Pictures, joined by Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps. Animation work is being developed with Flying Bark Productions.

In the Netflix featurette, the Duffer brothers explained that an animated series was an early idea when thinking about expanding the franchise: “When we started talking about, was there anything else we wanted to do with ‘Stranger Things,’ this was one of our first ideas,” Matt Duffer said. Ross Duffer added, “With animation there’s really no limits. Eric and his team can just go wild, and they have.”

With Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, Netflix is keeping the Hawkins universe alive even after the franchise’s live-action finale. By leaning into animation’s limitless possibilities and an 80s-cartoon nostalgia, the series opens a new chapter for fans eager to revisit the supernatural world.