- Stranger Things: Tales From 85 season 2 has been announced
- Surprisingly, it is already confirmed to premiere in late 2026
- Netflix users have had a lot to say about the spin-off’s renewal
Stranger Things: Tales From 85 season 2 has been announced by Netflix – but even though it’s already confirmed to arrive in late 2026, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of audience appetite for it.
Less than a week after Stranger Things‘ latest spin-off premiered, Netflix not only revealed that it had renewed Tales from 85 for a second season, but also that it would be released before the end of the year. The world’s top streaming service has also released a short teaser for the animated offshoot’s next installment, which you can watch below:
There’s a Haunting in Hawkins…Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2. Coming this fall! pic.twitter.com/jFZGNB57m828 April 2026
For those who may have missed it: Stranger Things: Tales From 85 takes place between the second and third seasons of the main series, and follows the Hawkins team as they investigate a new supernatural mystery that threatens their hometown.
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Has the above synopsis piqued your interest? Read my Stranger Things: Tales From 85 review, which covers all 10 episodes in a spoiler-free capacity, to see if it’s actually worth streaming.
Why have Netflix users reacted negatively to Tales From 85’s renewal?
Of all the series in the world, this is the one they’ve decided to renew? It is so poorly made; it has nothing to do with “Stranger Things”. It just ruins the franchise.28 April 2026
Before Tales from 85it’s a good job Netflix gave it a two-season order ahead of its debut season’s arrival. That’s because, based on online reactions to the interquel’s release in late April, it hasn’t exactly been the success story that Netflix might have hoped it would be.
Tales from 85 was already fighting a losing battle before launch. In fact, whether it was the fanbase’s collective eyebrows raised at its timeline location, Stranger ThingsCast members not returning to voice animated versions of their characters in this spin-off, or a growing sense of fatigue with the IP’s franchising, diehard and casual viewers didn’t seem all that interested in the show.
The final Netflix Top 10 report from April 2026 proved this to be the case as well. Tales From 85 only accumulated 13.8 million hours streamed and an absolutely terrible 2.3 million views in its first five days on Netflix.
To put that into context, the critically panned second season of Kate Hudson’s sports comedy show Running point secured 25.2 million hours and 5.3 million views. Meanwhile, new religious thriller Unselected totaling 46.9 million hours and nearly 10.5 million views.
Netflix has tried to play Tales from 85 as a success — the streaming titan boasts that it placed 7th on this week’s top 10 list of most-watched shows, and it’s one of the top 15 debuts for an animated series on the service. But with such a poor start to life on Netflix, it likely is Tales from 85 would not have been renewed for a second installment if it had not already been approved prior to Season 1’s release.
Sure, it could have had the backing of executives who wanted additional profits Stranger Things brand, but when you think about it, countless other shows have been canceled even though they were far more successful than Tales from 85you have to wonder if a second season would have been greenlit based on these initial ratings.
The problem Netflix now faces is trying to win back fans. In fact, threads on r/StrangerThings and r/Television are full of comments from apathetic fans asking why another season is necessary. Posts by users on other social platforms, such as X/Twitter, are also condemnatory Tales from 85 and Netflix’s desire to continue whipping up what fans say is a dead horse Stranger Things IP.
In the interest of balance, there are those who enjoyed Tales from 85 season 1 and want to spend more time with Eleven, Mike and company later this year. However, these positive reactions are significantly offset by their negative counterparts. It will then be interesting to see Tales from 85 will get a Season 3 renewal after Season 2 premieres, or if Netflix will bring the ax down on this animated offshoot.
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