Animated Stranger Things spin-off titled Tales of ’85 is a repetitive, pessimistic, and somewhat gloomy retelling: TV review
Review: Alison Herman
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, most spin-offs typically expand the world of their original series in a clear direction. This can be forward in time, following a beloved character after the events of the main story, similar to what Frasier did; it can be backward, serving as a prequel that explores the origins of a character or key setting, as seen in the two current Game of Thrones spin-offs; or it can expand sideways, transplanting a concept into another setting within the same universe, much like classic procedural franchises such as CSI or Law & Order.
However, the first official television continuation of Stranger Things does none of these. (There was, however, a stage play titled The First Shadow previously set in the 1950s.) The series Stranger Things: Tales of ’85 is animated rather than live-action, a change that clearly signals this is no longer the same show that recently concluded on Netflix. Yet even that distinction feels unnecessary, as the new version essentially retells the exact same story—same characters, same fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, and the same familiar structure.
The key difference is that the “Hellfire Club” group returns with new voice actors and is no longer constrained by the natural limitations of a coming-of-age story: they do not age. The series appears to be an explicit attempt to keep Stranger Things alive in digital form, allowing Netflix to continue monetizing the brand long after the original cast has moved on.
As the title suggests, the story is set between Seasons 2 and 3—before major events such as the Starcourt Mall battle, the introduction of fan-favorite Robin, and, most importantly, before the characters have grown into teenagers and adults. In truth, there is little of major significance in this period that would justify a new narrative.
In this version, the core group—Will, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Eleven—reunites to face a new threat from the Upside Down while the adults of Hawkins remain unaware. The fact that, in the main timeline, the gate between worlds was closed in the Hawkins lab basement is largely ignored here.
Character dynamics and relationships follow nearly identical patterns: Mike remains protective of Eleven, Lucas and Max share a sweet friendship, and Dustin continues spending time with Steve Harrington. Even the group’s name is changed again, this time to the “Hawkins Investigators Club,” a shift that seems designed purely to create a sense of novelty without offering anything substantially new.
Among the new characters is a girl named Nikki, a pink-haired teenager whose mother, Anna, is the school’s science teacher. She appears to function as an early version of Robin and a narrative template for Will’s development. However, because she is not part of the original timeline, forming an emotional connection with her proves difficult.
Ultimately, the most significant aspect of this iteration is that the characters are no longer tied to live actors. This allows the series to continue reproducing the same story for years without concern for aging casts or changing appearances—a prospect that, from the critic’s perspective, feels less exciting and more unsettling, even slightly dystopian.
All eight episodes of Stranger Things: Tales of ’85 are now available on Netflix.
