Stranger Things returns as Other Worlds prequel series announced
The new series is scheduled for release in 2028.
Netflix has announced a Stranger Things spin-off prequel series almost a year after the smash-hit show ended.
Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure is scheduled for release in 2028 and was unveiled in an eerie teaser trailer on Instagram on Friday.
The announcement also coincided with Stranger Things Day on November 6, which marks the fictional date when the events of the original TV series began.
The sneak preview opens with a bicycle abandoned on its side beside a 1950s-style radio playing Sh-Boom by The Crew-Cuts, with intermittent static interrupting the grainy audio.
The camera pans to a warning sign, revealing the bicycle has been left in a restricted area, before showing a cluster of grey clouds in the sky.
Text on screen reads: “April 19, 1955. Marion, Nevada.”
A burst of lightning forces the clouds apart and abruptly ends the trailer, which is captioned: “Before Hawkins, there was Marion.
“Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure. New series only on Netflix, 2028.”
While the original series was set in the remote town of Hawkins, Indiana, the prequel will take place in the fictional town of Marion, Nevada, on the other side of the country.
The upcoming series is set decades before the events of Stranger Things, which takes place in the 1980s.
It also predates the events of the hit theatre show Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which explores the troubled past of Henry Creel in Hawkins in 1959.
The award-winning play explores the character’s origins and his eventual transformation into the otherworldly creature Vecna, the antagonist of the TV series.
Matt and Ross Duffer, known as the Duffer Brothers, are reuniting with Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry for the eagerly anticipated new series.
Speaking to Netflix’s website Tudum, they said: “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.
“It’s Stranger Things, but also thrillingly fresh, with a new setting, new heroes and villains, and new… Actually, we’re not allowed to say any more.
“Now, on to casting. In the meantime – watch the skies, nerds!”
Ms Trefry, who is showrunner, co-creator and writer on the new show, said it is an “insane honour and privilege to be bringing this new chapter of Stranger Things to life”.
She added: “With the support of Netflix and (production company) 21 Laps, we have had the time of our lives returning to all the horror, wonder and mystery of the flagship, while also telling a wholly new story, one we hope will blow your minds and break your hearts all over again.
“There are so many more mysteries to explore. Welcome to Other Worlds.”
The hit sci-fi series first aired in 2016 and rocketed its young stars to fame, including Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke and Joe Keery.
Other cast members included Finn Wolfhard, David Harbour, Natalia Dyer and Winona Ryder.
The series follows a group of children who uncover supernatural threats from an alternate dimension called the Upside Down.
A decade later, the show came to an emotional conclusion with its two-hour finale, released in January 2026.
The franchise has become a global phenomenon and expanded with several spin-offs, including the animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.
Further details about Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure are yet to be announced.