The Stranger Things universe expanding as Netflix is taking fans somewhere they haven’t quite been before. After years of speculation, the streamer has officially announced Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a new live-action spinoff that will take the franchise back to the 1950s, long before the events of the original series and even before the Broadway hit Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

Co-created by longtime franchise writer Kate Trefry and Matt and Ross Duffer, the new series will be directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice), who is also set to helm the first three episodes. Trefry will serve as writer and showrunner, while the Duffer Brothers will executive produce. The series is currently scheduled to premiere in 2028.

Netflix also released a first teaser, offering a mysterious glimpse of the show’s setting. The footage takes place on April 19, 1955, in Marion, Nevada, where an abandoned bicycle sits near a restricted area under the cover of darkness. In the distance, the town lights provide an eerie contrast to an ominous disturbance in the sky that looks very much like a wormhole opening. It’s brief, but there’s enough here to suggest that whatever is happening in Nevada, things are about to get strange.

And if the location and date sound familiar, there’s a good reason.

How Other Worlds Connects To Stranger Things: The First Shadow

The new spinoff has been several years in the making. Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that the idea had been developing since the summer of 2022, around the time Stranger Things Season 4 premiered. In an interview, Matt Duffer confirmed that the project was moving forward, adding that Netflix had finally gotten a clearer picture of what the creative team had in mind.

While the creators are emphasizing that Other Worlds will tell a wholly new story featuring new characters, themes, and mythology, its connection to The First Shadow is already apparent.

Trefry, who has been part of the original show’s writing team since Season 2, also wrote the Tony Award-winning stage production from a story developed with the Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorne. The play explores the early life of Henry Creel and the events that helped shape the character who would eventually become Vecna.

The upcoming series will reportedly explore some of the mythology introduced in the play, including the mysterious rock that young Henry discovers inside a scientist’s briefcase in the Nevada caves. The object first appeared in The First Shadow before making its way into Season 5 of Stranger Things.

During an interview with Variety last November, Matt Duffer revealed that the spinoff would explain the origins of that discovery and answer some of the remaining questions surrounding the franchise’s mythology. So, while audiences can expect a new story, there will apparently be some important connections for longtime fans to uncover.

Even the music in the teaser seems to be dropping a clue. The Chords’ «Sh-Boom» plays during Season 5, Episode 4, when Max visits a memory of young Henry at Hawkins High. That particular setting also originated in The First Shadow, further connecting the upcoming series to the stage production.

One other interesting detail is the choice of Marion, Nevada. The stage play primarily features Hawkins, Indiana, and Rachel, Lincoln County, Nevada, so Marion represents a location that hasn’t previously been established in the story. However, that may have something to do with Netflix’s plans for the filmed version of The First Shadow.

The Stranger Things Stage Play Could Help Bridge The Two Stories

Netflix filmed multiple performances of The First Shadow in February, and one theatergoer who had attended the production several times reportedly noticed that Marion, Nevada, had replaced the previously established Rachel location in the filmed version.

That could be significant. The television version of the play is reportedly expected to include some adjustments that better align its story with the events of Stranger Things Season 5. Although Netflix hasn’t announced when the filmed production will be released, it could serve as a bridge between the original series and Other Worlds.

The timing also suggests that the prequel has been in development longer than its official announcement might indicate. By September, reports suggested the project was approaching a greenlight, with production potentially targeting a 2027 start. Netflix ultimately chose November 6, this year’s Stranger Things Day, to make the announcement. The date is particularly fitting, as it marks the day Will Byers disappeared in the original series.

The Duffer Brothers And Shawn Levy Are Back Behind The Scenes

Although the Duffer Brothers are executive producing and co-creating the new series, they won’t be handling its day-to-day operations. The duo are currently under an exclusive overall deal with Paramount, although their executive producing work on Stranger Things projects through their Upside Down Pictures banner is carved out of that agreement.

The Duffers expressed their excitement about finally bringing the project to life, praising Trefry’s contributions to the franchise and Wright’s work as a filmmaker.

«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 and Ross Duffer said. They also teased that the series would retain the spirit of the original while introducing a new setting, heroes, villains, and mythology.

Shawn Levy is also returning as an executive producer through his 21 Laps Entertainment banner, despite recently leaving Netflix for an overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television. Like the Duffers, Levy won’t be directing the new series.

Wright will executive produce alongside the Duffer Brothers, Levy, and Trefry. Paul Dichter, Shelley Meals, Andrea Sperling, and Pavlina Hatoupis are also executive producing.

Netflix’s Jinny Howe, Head of Scripted Series for the US and Canada, described the project as an opportunity to explore another dimension of the franchise while maintaining the heart, mystery, and spectacle that made the original such a global success.

For Trefry, the series represents another major milestone in her career. The Duffer Brothers gave her her first paid writing job in Hollywood, The First Shadow became her first play, and now Other Worlds marks her first television series as a creator.

Trefry expressed her gratitude for the opportunity, promising a story that returns to the horror, wonder, and mystery of the original while taking the franchise in an entirely new direction.

Stranger Things Is Moving Beyond The 1980s

Since debuting in 2016, Stranger Things has become one of Netflix’s biggest global phenomena, accumulating more than 1.2 billion views across its first four seasons. Naturally, the streamer isn’t ready to leave that universe behind.

Other Worlds will mark the second television spinoff and the third overall expansion of the franchise when including The First Shadow. There’s also the animated series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, which takes place between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original show and is currently awaiting a renewal decision.

Interestingly, the Duffer Brothers have previously made it clear that their next stories wouldn’t necessarily revisit the decade that defined the original series. During their conversation with Deadline last November, Ross Duffer specifically said they were done with the 1980s, with Matt joking that they were probably done with the familiar image of kids riding bicycles, too.

Well, it looks like they’re keeping that promise. With a 1950s setting, a new location, and a mythology that appears to dig deeper into the origins of Henry Creel, Other Worlds could be a fascinating way to expand the franchise without simply repeating what came before.

And considering how much the original series has built around its mysteries, I’m particularly curious to see what else is hiding in those Nevada caves. We’ll have to wait until 2028 to find out.