Stranger Things gets a live-action prequel set in the 1950s, coming in 2028

Hawkins is not done with Netflix yet. On Stranger Things Day the streamer announced Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel series set in the 1950s that is due in 2028. The creators sum it up in one line before running out of things they are allowed to say:

It’s Stranger Things, but also thrillingly fresh, with a new setting, new heroes and villains.

Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Stranger Things

The setting places the show before the original series and before the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which follows Henry Creel’s past in Hawkins in 1959. That play is the clue to who runs the new series: Kate Trefry, a longtime Stranger Things writer who also wrote The First Shadow, is showrunner, co-creator and writer. Joe Wright, the director of Atonement and Darkest Hour, will direct the first three episodes, and production will take place in New Mexico.

The Duffers produce through Upside Down Pictures alongside Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps. Levy describes a new ensemble in a new era, with all-new characters and a mythology whose seeds may have been planted in Hawkins. No actors are attached yet: the Duffers’ statement ends with “Now, on to casting.”

The bet is easy to explain. According to Netflix, the first four seasons drew more than 1.2 billion views, and the franchise already spans the animated Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, the stage play and two Netflix House experiences. A prequel with a BAFTA-winning director is the biggest swing yet at keeping it alive after the main show ended, as The Verge points out.

Reported by Netflix, The Verge. Compiled with AI tools.