The animated spin-off from Stranger Things, Tales from ’85, has been renewed for a second season by Netflix. That show premiered last week and ranked at Number 7 in the streamer’s Top 10 with 13.8 million hours watched across 2.8 million households. Those are decent numbers, especially for an animated series, but not quite a breakout hit. The second season is already set for Fall 2026, so it must have unofficially been renewed in advance, with production currently in the works. When asked how much further this one will go beyond the second year, Showrunner Eric Robles gave a somewhat vague answer, but definitely suggested more seasons:
I have a number in my head. This is going to be a really fun ride for the story that I want to tell. But I don’t plan to overstay my welcome. I’m giving you a very vague answer, but I have an idea of what feels right for me, creatively, in terms of the story introducing Nikki Baxter — her not being around anymore and what that means. Technically, she doesn’t fit into the timeline. It’s not in the cards, in the sense that this was developed when the Duffers were in season four [postproduction]. What I can say is that I understand the responsibility of ending this story for this series correctly — what the kids process, how they move forward after that, how it connects perfectly to season three and why they don’t talk about her.
With the success of this animated spin-off, expect Netflix to get more properties from the Stranger Things franchise into the development queue.
This announcement brings the Cancellation/Renewal Score for the current season to 30 renewed sci fi entries (59% of shows tracked) vs. 14 cancelled and ending (27%). You can see the breakdown of the numbers and the full list of shows for the current and prior seasons on our Cancellation Watch Page.
Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 follows Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas and Max during what appears to be a peaceful winter break filled with snowball fights and Dungeons & Dragons sessions. But when a mysterious threat awakens beneath the snow-covered streets of Hawkins, the young heroes must uncover its source and save their town once more. The voice cast includes Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, Luca Diaz, Braxton Quinney, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Benjamin Plessala, and Elisha Williams.
As expected, the number of cancellation and renewal announcements has been increasing lately as we head toward the Upfronts in May when the networks and streaming services announce their lineups for the upcoming season. I expect more breaking news in the coming weeks, so be sure to stay tuned to CancelledSciFi.com and our social media sites for the latest updates.
Keep up with the status of all the current sci fi and fantasy shows as well as news and updates on new and upcoming shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
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