Netflix has released the official teaser trailer for Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, giving fans their first proper look at the animated return to Hawkins. Watch the teaser above, then read on for what’s been revealed about the new mystery, returning characters, and how this story fits into the Stranger Things timeline, including the slightly wild idea that the gang survived an entire extra chapter between seasons 2 and 3 that we somehow never heard details about.

That “missing story” angle is part of the intrigue here. Season 2 ends with the gate closed and the Snow Ball dance, and then season 3 turns up with everyone older, summer energy, and Starcourt on the horizon. Tales From ’85 is stepping right into that gap with a winter-set adventure, teasing a full-on mystery that still has to leave the timeline standing by the time the credits roll. As one comment under the teaser on YouTube amusingly puts it: “And at the end they’ll say ‘let’s never speak of this again.’”

A winter mystery set between seasons 2 and 3

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is set in the Stranger Things universe between seasons 2 and 3, unfolding during the winter of 1985. With the gate to the Upside Down closed, the kids have supposedly returned to a normal routine of Dungeons & Dragons and snowball fights.

In the teaser, Dustin says: “Something from the Upside Down must have survived last year,” hinting that whatever’s stirring in Hawkins didn’t get the memo that the gate is shut. The official synopsis leans into that unease: “Beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened,” setting up a fresh paranormal mystery that puts Hawkins in danger again.

New creatures, familiar DNA

Because season 2 ends with Eleven closing the gate at Hawkins Lab, the animated series had a built-in question to answer. “That was the big challenge of developing the show,” showrunner Eric Robles (Glitch Techs) told Netflix site Tudum.

As he explains it, he went back through the series, dug into his ’80s inspirations, and tried to piece together the right approach. “Let me do some research on this. Let me really dissect the show, dig into my old memory vault of a lot of ’80s movies I used to watch, and see what I can piece together here,” Robles recalled. Once he began that process, the idea for the show “just hit me.”

The teaser previews strange new creatures roaming around Hawkins, and Robles described the logic behind them in very Stranger Things terms: “All of it is still connected to the Upside Down, so there is the DNA of Upside Down creatures in all of our creatures. It’s like Hawkins Lab science meets Upside Down matter. When you put them together, those are the kinds of creatures we have in our world.”

He also pointed to a simple, effective winter horror hook. “Underneath all that snow, there’s something lurking, and you just never know where that thing’s going to come out and grab you.”

The characters and the voice cast

The majority of the main characters are here, including Eleven (voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt), Mike (Luca Diaz), Will (Benjamin Plessala), Dustin (Braxton Quinney), Lucas (Elisha “EJ” Williams), and Max (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport). The teaser also gives a glimpse of Steve Harrington, voiced by Jeremy Jordan, and Hopper, voiced by Brett Gipson. Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo, and Lou Diamond Phillips are also part of the voice cast in yet-to-be-revealed roles.

Robles described the tone as something that captures the thrill of being a kid, while still letting the danger feel real. “It’s got the thrill of being young, being a kid, and going on these adventures. But then there’s this essence of real danger, real stakes,” he said.

And for fans who just want more time with this group before the curtain fully falls on the franchise, he puts it plainly: “This is one of the rarest opportunities that we’re ever going to get, to be with the main characters. We get to go back in time and really just hang out with these kids.”

The release date

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 premieres April 23, only on Netflix.