The long-rumored live-action Stranger Things spinoff series has been officially revealed by Netflix. Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, co-created by Kate Trefry and The Duffer Brothers and directed by Joe Wright, is a prequel set in the 1950s, before Stranger Things and before the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow. It will premiere in 2028.
A teaser, which you can watch below, provides more information about the offshoot’s setting — both in terms of time, April 19, 1955, and location, Marion, Nevada. It features a deserted bike by a restricted area at night, with town lights in the distance and an ominous disturbance in the sky that resembles a wormhole creation.
The spinoff has been several years in the making, with Matt and Ross Duffer acknowledging that they’d had the idea since Season 4 of the mothership series came out in the summer of 2022. “We are moving forward with it. Netflix, they finally know what it is,” Matt Duffer told Deadline last November.
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And while the creative auspices of Other Worlds are all stressing that it will feature “a wholly new story,” “new characters, themes and mythology,” its connection to the Tony-winning The First Shadow is undeniable. Longtime Stranger Things writer Trefry wrote the stage play from a story by her, the Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorne.
The new series is set in Nevada and takes place just a couple of years before the events of the Nevada experiment in The First Shadow. In an interview with Variety last November, Matt Duffer revealed that the spinoff will explain the rock young Henry Creel finds in a scientist’s briefcase in the Nevadan caves, which was first introduced in The First Shadow before it was featured in Season 5 of Stranger Things, adding that the new series “will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining.”
The song in the teaser, “Sh-Boom” by The Chords, also is related to young Henry. It’s playing in Season 5, Episode 4 of Stranger Things when Max visits the memory of Henry Creel in school at Hawkins High, a setting that also originated in The First Shadow.
And while Marion, Nevada does not appear connected to the play, which is set in Rachel, Lincoln County, Nevada in addition to Hawkins, Indiana, that may change.
Netflix filmed multiple performances of the The First Shadow in February. A theatergoer who attended one of the tapings having watched the play several times prior, shared their confusion over the location being changed to Marion, Nevada for the proshot. The TV version of The First Shadow, which is said to include tweaks aligning the play better with Stranger Things Season 5, has not been scheduled for release yet but Netflix will likely use it to bridge the mothership series and the prequel.
A February taping of The First Shadow featuring Marion, NV would also illustrate how long the prequel has been gearing up. By September, word was that the project, at the time widely rumored to be set in the world of The First Shadow and take place in the 1950s, was said to be nearing greenlight for a 2027 start of production. Netflix would not confirm the pickup, holding off to make the announcement on Stranger Things day, Nov. 6, when the original series’ Will Byers disappeared.
Trefry serves as writer and showrunner on Other Worlds. While the Duffer Brothers co-created and executive produce the series with her, the duo were never going to be day-to-day showrunners on the new series as they are under an exclusive overall deal at Paramount. (Their executive services on any Stranger Things projects via their Upside Down Pictures are carved out of the pact.)
“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,” Matt & Ross Duffer said. “We’re so grateful to our incredible team of collaborators: our showrunner Kate Trefry, who has been in the trenches with us since Season 2 and wrote Stranger Things: The First Shadow; and our director, Joe Wright, a brilliant artist whose work we’ve long admired. We can’t wait for you to see what they’re cooking up. 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!”
Stranger Things executive producer/director Shawn Levy also recently left Netflix for an overall deal at Disney’s 20th Television. Like the Duffers, he is executive producing Other Worlds though his 21Laps Entertainment but is not directing. Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) is set to direct the first three episodes and executive produce the new series. Paul Dichter, Shelley Meals, Andrea Sperling and Pavlina Hatoupis also executive produce.
“Stranger Things has always belonged to the fans, and their passion made it a worldwide phenomenon,” said Jinny Howe, Netflix Head of Scripted Series, US & Canada. “Today, on Stranger Things Day, we’re honored to partner again with Matt and Ross Duffer and Kate Trefry to give fans a new dimension of this universe to step into. Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure takes us to the 1950s with new heroes and all the heart, mystery, and spectacle of the original series. We’re proud to keep building this world with the Duffers, Kate, Shawn Levy, and Joe Wright, and we can’t wait for fans to see what’s next.”
This is the latest “first” for Trefry that stems from Stranger Things: she landed her first staff writer job on the mothership series, wrote her first play with The First Shadow and has now created her first series with Other Worlds.
“The Duffer Brothers gave me my first paying job in Hollywood, and it has been a joy and a fever dream ever since,” Trefry said. “Now, it is my insane honor and privilege to be bringing this new chapter of Stranger Things to life alongside them and our incredible director Joe Wright. With the support of Netflix and 21Laps, 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.”
Created by The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things debuted in 2016 and became Netflix’s first owned hit series, a global phenomenon with over 1.2 billion views across Seasons 1–4.
“All of us at 21Laps are thrilled and privileged to be continuing the storytelling legacy of Stranger Things,” Levy said. “With Other Worlds, the Duffer Brothers and Kate Trefry craft a new ensemble and adventure that is imbued with the DNA of our flagship series while exploring a new era, setting and all-new characters, themes and mythology — the seeds of which may have been planted in Hawkins, but now venture into other worlds of spectacle, action and emotion.”
Other Worlds marks the second Stranger Things TV spinoff and third overall, including stage play The First Shadow. The animated Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, which fills the gap between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original series, has released two season and is awaiting a renewal decision.
“Whatever we do next, I’ll tell you this, it’s not going to be set in the ’80s. I think we’re done with the ’80s,” Ross told Deadline last November, with Matt jokingly adding, “Kids on bikes. Probably done with that.”
Judging by the teaser for Other Worlds, bikes may be back in the picture.
Katie Campione contributed to this report.