Netflix Is Taking Stranger Things Back to the 1950s in a New Live-Action Prequel

Netflix marked this year's Stranger Things Day with a gift for fans: a brand new live-action series set decades before the original show. Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure will take viewers back to the 1950s, long before the gang in Hawkins, Indiana, uncovered a supernatural conspiracy, and even before the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

The announcement came on 6 November, the date fans celebrate each year in honour of Will Byers' disappearance in the very first episode. A teaser pointed to 19 April 1955 in Marion, Nevada, hinting at an entirely fresh corner of the Stranger Things universe.

New heroes, new villains

Netflix is keeping plot details firmly under wraps, but the promise is a wholly new story with a new setting, new heroes, new villains and a new cast. Casting has not yet been announced.

"We've been dreaming of Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure for many years now, and to see it become a reality is surreal and exhilarating," said co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer. "It's Stranger Things, but also thrillingly fresh." Their playful sign-off to fans: "Watch the skies, nerds!"

A trusted team

Kate Trefry, a longtime Stranger Things writer who also penned The First Shadow, will serve as showrunner, co-creator and writer. Joe Wright, the BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning director of Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and Darkest Hour, will direct the first three episodes. The Duffer brothers and Shawn Levy are among the executive producers, with production planned in New Mexico.

"The Duffer Brothers gave me my first paying job in Hollywood, and it has been a joy and a fever dream ever since," Trefry said.

The world keeps growing

The original series concluded in 2025 after five seasons, but its universe has continued to expand, with the animated Tales from '85 and the award-winning First Shadow on stage. Other Worlds will be the fourth chapter in that growing world, and Netflix is targeting 2028 for its arrival.

For the millions who grew up with Eleven and her friends, the wait comes with a comforting thought: there are still more strange things to come.