Mysterious ‘Stranger Things’ Animated Series On the Way
Netflix announced a Stranger Things animated series inspired by Saturday mornings eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch in front of the TV.
Most of the details are under wraps, but Netflix has confirmed that an animated series set in the Stranger Things universe is on the way. Flying Bark Productions is developing it – they created the fantastic animation for Marvel’s What If…? and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. The Duffer brothers are executive producers, and the pair is once again leaning on nostalgia and their childhoods.
“We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling. We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with. The scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you!”
via Netflix
Other Stranger Things Projects
Given its global phenomenon status, it’s no surprise that Netflix and the Duffer brothers want to expand beyond the main series. Along with the Stranger Things Animated series, there are several projects in the works right now. A live-action spin-off focusing on characters outside Eleven and her friends is planned. The show will be based on the Duffers’ original idea (that they’re not sharing just yet).
A live stage production – Stranger Things: The First Shadow – will open at London’s Phoenix Theater this November. You can already snag tickets; it runs through next summer.
“Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach. Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the ‘Stranger Things’ story – and may hold the key to the end.”
Stranger Things Season 5
So what’s up with the main series? At the end of Season 4, the Duffers said they had a map and an ending for the series ready. The title of the first episode of next season: “The Crawl.” Are we in for a dungeon crawl? Maybe? It doesn’t say a lot, but I’m sure it’ll say more when we have the complete list of episode titles.
season 5. chapter one. the crawl. happy stranger things day pic.twitter.com/xCdNLjD7Yt
— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) November 7, 2022
What we know: The new season is happening mainly in Hawkins, which the Upside Down has mashed itself into. It’ll also be dropping in right where we left off – there’s no time for the extra build-up; it’s all go all the time. There will only be a storm, no calm. The Duffers have mentioned that they will try not to add new characters to the season to focus on the original bunch of kids.
“…this is about everyone finally coming back. Coming back together, coming back to Hawkins. Hopper is back in Hawkins. The original group [is] back together—the original group of boys plus Eleven. The OG group. There’s something interesting to re-explore some of the season one dynamics again, except on this grander scale.”
The cast that lived through last season should be returning – Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Charlie Heaton, Jamie Campbell Bower, Natalia Dyer, Maya Hawke, Sadie Sink, and Joe Keery.
It’s expected that they’ll start filming this summer. The rest is all theorizing…
