Review of the animated series Stranger Things: Tales from '85. A nice treat for fans of the original who are feeling nostalgic

The animated spin-off of Stranger Things was announced back in 2022, but a lot has happened since then. The final season of the main series turned out to be highly controversial, but by that point the animated series was practically finished, and it was too late to change anything. As a result, Stranger Things: Tales from '85 found itself in a very difficult position, caught between the reactions to the original ending and viewers whose interest had sharply declined. I’ll discuss below how the new show turned out and whether it’s worth your time, even if the battle with the Vecna didn’t quite land.

As a Dungeons & Dragons Master, I clearly remember when, thanks to the TV series, this tabletop role-playing game surged in popularity and stopped being seen by outsiders as a weird pastime for geeks. That said, D&D is far from the show’s main focus, and this becomes increasingly apparent as the series progresses.

By the final season, the Duffer brothers had crammed so many characters and storylines into their creation that it might as well have been a sitcom—and this race for scale has become the norm in the industry today, as is evident from compilations like the top 30 Most Anticipated Movies and TV Shows of 2026. The only places left for D&D references were in the villains’ names. Still, the story was gripping. It was very interesting to find out what Vecna really wants.

I was the one on our editorial team who wrote the reviews for all the episodes of the final season (you can read them here: Stranger Things Season 5 — The first part of the Show Review). I was one of those who liked the ending, although, once the emotions had settled, I’m inclined to agree that there are far too many inconsistencies. The creators wanted to aim for something great, but in the end, they failed to meet viewer expectations and delivered something that was merely “not bad.” At the same time, there is such a deep chasm between the first season and the last—both in style and atmosphere—that they inevitably feel like different shows.

The decision to create spin-offs had been on the table for a long time. The main series clearly couldn’t do justice to all the characters, and something more was needed. However, it’s only fair to keep in mind Netflix’s obvious desire to squeeze a little more money out of its flagship series with minimal expense. In this regard, animation seems like the most advantageous option. There’s no need to meticulously craft special effects, the actors can be re-dubbed, and any rough edges in the graphics can easily be passed off as an artistic style. Stranger Things: Tales from '85 has, whether intentionally or not, managed to combine all of these elements at once. The show tells a side story set between the second and third seasons, features exclusively familiar characters but with different voice actors, and is drawn in a distinctive style that retains recognizable traits while intentionally making them slightly exaggerated and cartoonish.

The creators decided to scale things back, returning to the format of mysterious events in a small town—exactly what made the series so beloved in the first place, and what projects in the Stranger Things vein are still trying to recreate. The main characters are still kids, not Vekna-busters spending half an hour coming out. All of this instantly sets the right mood and wins you over. This is exactly the kind of Stranger Things that many people fell in love with, so it’s a win-win decision. The villainous events are once again linked to laboratory research, but this time involving plants. There will be no test subjects 001 or evil Russians. And they won’t show any scientists either. The kids have to deal with the aftermath of the experiment, not the culprits themselves. You can feel the simplification right away. The plot doesn’t try to cover everything at once, as was usually the case with the main seasons. Even the adult characters only appear briefly in the background as cameos: all the focus is on the specific problem, the kids, and their relationships.

That said, while the story as a whole isn’t bad, the details can’t shake off a sense of familiarity. The mutated flowers ultimately take on the form of Demogorgons anyway. It’s unclear why the creators are so insistent on using this image of a mouth that splits into several parts. It would seem that plants, of all things, should have absolutely nothing in common with a living creature from the Other Side, but no. The monsters fight in a similar way, with the only difference being that there is more than one of them.

There’s another amusing aspect to the story. The writers keep pushing the idea that Will (yes, that Will) isn’t actually a useless whiner, but a very effective team member. If you remember all the seasons well, the boy had exactly two modes: either he played the “damsel in distress” that everyone rescued, or he became strange and whiny because of his unrequited love for… friendship. Will’s sudden display of power in the finale felt predictable but extremely unnatural. The Duffer Brothers never managed to provide a clear explanation, but this minor character—not exactly a fan favorite—suddenly became one of the most important. However, the creators confidently botched this storyline in that very same final season; let’s not dwell on it.

The cartoon is trying to make amends. Here, Will proves he doesn’t need his friends to look out for him; there, he turns out to be the quickest and most resourceful; and here, he’s the only one advocating for a humane approach toward the newest team member, whom we’ll discuss later. All these moments would actually be much less noticeable if the real Will from the main show were even remotely similar to his animated counterpart. As it stands, whether intentionally or not, it feels like a Band-Aid on a massive wound—one that can’t really fix much.

That said, absolutely all the familiar characters have changed. In the original, the kids were divided into groups, with the focus constantly shifting away from them toward subplots or the adults. On top of that, the infamous new characters also took up a significant chunk of screen time. Now, however, the kids finally interact with each other a lot and often, which helps reveal new sides of them. For example, Dustin was already showing leadership qualities and a rebellious spirit back in 85, not just in the latest season. And Mike finally looks like the leader of the group, which was always implied but never properly shown. He’s unusually talkative and has evolved from a functional character into someone more human and natural. Odie has also transformed. She uses her powers more actively as part of her daily life and shows genuine feelings toward Mike. The awkwardness that was present among the live-action actors throughout all five seasons is absent in the animated characters.

Unfortunately, there were still some new faces. At one point, high school senior Nikki joins the group, and she’s, shall we say, a bit of a controversial addition. She looks and acts like a guy, sports a pink mohawk, and loves heavy metal. Her tomboyish appearance was explained by the fact that she’s a punk, but right up until the finale, you can’t shake the feeling that Nikki could easily have been Nick, and the story wouldn’t have lost anything. Fortunately, the heroine isn’t obsessed with modern values and stands out for actively collecting all sorts of junk in her garage. When she first shows her friends her hideout, I personally spotted another source of inspiration—the series Arcane: League of Legends, which, what a coincidence, also aired on Netflix. Nikki is a hybrid of Jinx and Vi; even the color palette of her garage is pink and blue. And everything would be fine if Nikki hadn’t stayed in Hawkins in the finale. It’s strange that the writers didn’t come up with a plausible reason to remove the girl from the story, and now we have yet another plot hole, since Nikki doesn’t appear anywhere in the main series after that, even though she became friends with Will and knows about the Upside Down.

I also found the conflict between Odie and Mike strange—it stemmed from the fact that Mike was against taking unnecessary risks and didn’t want his girlfriend to fight monsters. The argument feels forced and unnatural. At one point, Mike even says that he can’t read the girl’s mind and is guided only by external factors, after which Odie angrily declares that he could have just asked her. Needless to say, the girl had a hundred chances to speak up. In other words, we’re witnessing yet another outburst of feminism, where the girl doesn’t really explain anything to anyone, but is very upset that no one bothered to ask her for clarification.

Otherwise, the cartoon is quite good and will most likely appeal to those who fell in love with Stranger Things a long time ago but were disappointed by the ending. I know that many viewers and critics were left with mixed feelings, but honestly, I don’t understand what they were expecting. The problem of inflated expectations for finales is common to modern TV series—just recall the discussions surrounding The Boys Season 5 Finale, where people discuss who will survive, how it will end, and who the main villain is. Netflix is unlikely to risk shifting the focus to completely unfamiliar characters, and such segments don’t commit to anything, but serve as pleasant additions to the original. The animation, though it looks distinctive, is still executed at a high level. The characters express their emotions very vividly and sometimes perform even better than their originals. The new voice actors, who were obviously added to save on the budget but explained away as the original actors having grown up, also fit in quite well. I didn’t feel any dissonance. However, if you weren’t impressed by this spin-off and want to watch something else, we recommend this selection: What to watch in May 2026—perhaps you’ll find something among them that will brighten up your evening even better than a return to Hawkins.

Stranger Things: Tales from '85 has already been renewed for a second season. I’m not sure how good of an idea this is, but the first ten 20–30-minute episodes kept me entertained. The cartoon recaptures the atmosphere from the beginning of this epic story, revealing familiar characters in a more complete and interesting way. It’s easy to forgive the caricatured Nikki and Odie’s independence issues for the sake of this.