The story of Stranger Things may have come to an end, but Netflix isn’t finished exploring its supernatural world. The streamer has officially ordered a new live-action prequel series titled Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, which will take the franchise back several decades before the events of the original show.
The new series will be set in the 1950s, predating both Stranger Things and the stage production Stranger Things: The First Shadow. According to the official description, Other Worlds will introduce new heroes while retaining the mixture of mystery, science fiction and spectacle that helped turn Stranger Things into one of Netflix’s signature franchises.
Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry will serve as showrunner and co-creator alongside franchise creators Matt and Ross Duffer. Filmmaker Joe Wright, whose credits include Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and Darkest Hour, is set to direct the first three episodes.
Netflix is currently targeting a 2028 premiere for the series. Casting details and a specific production timeline have not yet been announced.
The 1950s setting represents a major departure from the nostalgia-heavy 1980s backdrop of the original series. The Duffers have previously said that future live-action stories would introduce different characters and largely function independently from the Hawkins storyline rather than simply continuing the adventures of Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and the rest of the original group.
That approach also appears designed to prevent the franchise from becoming overly dependent on its existing mythology. Before the announcement, the Duffers had described their live-action spinoff plans as something of a clean slate, with new characters, a different time period and its own story, while still maintaining some connective tissue with the larger Stranger Things world.
The setting is particularly interesting because Other Worlds will take place even earlier than The First Shadow. The stage play, which premiered in London’s West End in 2023 before moving to Broadway in 2025, explores Hawkins in 1959 and includes younger versions of characters such as Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado and Bob Newby while delving into Henry Creel’s history.
Netflix has not revealed how closely Other Worlds will connect to those events or whether characters from The First Shadow will appear in the new series.
The franchise has already begun expanding beyond the original live-action show. The animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 revisits Hawkins and the familiar characters during the period between the second and third seasons, while using a new voice cast.
Other Worlds, however, represents a considerably larger expansion of the property. Rather than filling in another gap in the original timeline, the series has the opportunity to establish an entirely new corner of the Stranger Things mythology.
The original Stranger Things premiered on Netflix in 2016 and became one of the streaming service’s defining series. Created by the Duffer Brothers, the show blended science fiction, horror and coming-of-age adventure with a heavy dose of 1980s pop culture before concluding with its fifth season in 2025.
With Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, Netflix is now looking much further into the past for the franchise’s next live-action chapter.
Source: Variety