Netflix Renewed 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85' Before Fans Even Decided If They Liked It
Stranger Things fans barely had time to finish Season 1 of Tales From '85 before Netflixtold them there was more on the way.
The animated spinoff premiered April 23, set between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original live-action series and following Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max through a new Hawkins mystery involving the Upside Down. Five days later, on April 28, the official Stranger Things Instagram account shared the news with the caption 'big news nerds!!! Tales From '85 season 2 - coming this fall!' Netflix simultaneously released a brief teaser announcing the second season's arrival.
The announcement came to a divided fandom that hadn't yet fully sorted out how it felt about Season 1. Season 1 received a 63% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 54% audience score, numbers that reflect a response somewhere between tolerant and genuinely frustrated. Many fans had objections baked in before the show ever aired. The original cast did not return to voice their animated counterparts, and the show debuted less than four months after the controversial Stranger Things Season 5 finale aired on New Year's Eve. That ending left a significant portion of the audience dissatisfied, and Tales From '85 inherited that controversy.
The final Netflix Top 10 report of April 2026 showed Tales From '85 accrued 13.8 million hours streamed and 2.3 million views in its first five days, a figure Netflix framed positively, noting it placed in the top 15 animated series debuts on the platform. Critics pointed out that both Running Point Season 2 and a new thriller called Unchosenoutperformed it by significant margins in the same window.
On social media, enthusiasm and exhaustion arrived in roughly equal measure. Supporters celebrated the show's retro animation style and its faithful use of the original characters. Skeptics on Instagram were blunter: 'Season 2? Dawg we didn't even want the first one,' read one comment.
Showrunner Eric Roblesframed Season 2 as a natural continuation. He teased a new paranormal threat emerging from Hawkins' abandoned silver mines, along with a mysterious blue flower last seen blooming in the Upside Down at the end of Season 1. Season 2 is expected to land on Netflix before Halloween 2026. The Duffer Brothers remain executive producers on both seasons.
It is possible Tales From '85 was always going to receive a second season regardless of its reception, given that Netflix routinely orders animated series in pairs to offset the extended production timelines the format requires. Whether viewers catch up before Season 2 arrives is a separate question, and one Netflix is clearly betting on the affirmative.
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 8:49 AM.