Netflix has officially ordered Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel series set in Marion, Nevada, in 1955 — three decades before the flagship show and four years before the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The announcement landed on November 6, 2026, the date fans know as Stranger Things Day, with a 2028 premiere already on the calendar.
What Netflix announced
Netflix confirmed the series order through its Tudum announcement on November 6, 2026, reported the same day by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline. The show is a full live-action series — the franchise’s second television spin-off after the animated Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.
Alongside the announcement, Netflix released a short teaser: a vintage bicycle beside a restricted area at night, a portable radio playing “Sh-Boom” by The Chords, and a retro title card reading “April 19, 1955 — Marion, Nevada,” in the franchise’s signature red.
Netflix has given no premiere date within 2028, no episode count and no budget. Casting has not begun; production will take place in New Mexico.
Where and when Other Worlds is set
The setting is the announcement’s biggest statement: the first Stranger Things story told far from Hawkins, Indiana, and the earliest chapter in the franchise’s timeline.
| Year (in story) | Project | Setting |
| 1955 | Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure | Marion, Nevada |
| 1959 | Stranger Things: The First Shadow (stage play) | Hawkins, Indiana |
| 1983 | Stranger Things Season 1 | Hawkins, Indiana |
| 1985 | Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 (animated) | Hawkins, Indiana |
| 1987 | Stranger Things Season 5 (final season) | Hawkins, Indiana |
That 1955 date matters: it places the series before Henry Creel’s family moved to Hawkins in 1959, and before the stage play, which follows a teenage Henry. The Nevada desert is familiar ground — the Nina Project base from season 4 stood there, and The First Shadow confirms Henry’s first encounter with the Mind Flayer happened near a military installation in Lincoln County, Nevada.
Who is making it
Kate Trefry is the creative centre of the new series. She co-created Other Worlds with Matt and Ross Duffer and serves as showrunner, writer and executive producer — her first series as a creator. Trefry has written for Stranger Things since season 2 and wrote the script for The First Shadow.
“It is my insane honor and privilege to be bringing this new chapter of Stranger Things to life alongside [the Duffer Brothers] and our incredible director, Joe Wright,” Trefry said in Netflix’s announcement. “There are so many more mysteries to explore. Welcome to Other Worlds.”
Joe Wright, the BAFTA- and Golden Globe-winning director of Atonement, Darkest Hour and 2005’s Pride & Prejudice, will direct the first three episodes and executive produce, alongside the Duffers (Upside Down Pictures) and Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment. The Duffers described the series as “Stranger Things, but also thrillingly fresh, with a new setting, new heroes and villains.”
The handover reflects the Duffers’ own move: they signed an overall deal with Paramount in April 2026, with their executive-producing role on Other Worlds carved out of it. Netflix owns the franchise outright — and is extending it with a new showrunner and a new cast.
The Henry Creel connection
Netflix has released no plot details, and no cast has been named. But comments from the Duffers point in a clear direction: Variety and Deadline have both recalled Duffer comments suggesting the series will address Henry Creel’s backstory — the boy who becomes Vecna — and Matt Duffer has said it will delve into Henry’s memory of first connecting with the Mind Flayer, promising it “will answer some of the loose threads that are remaining” from the finale.
That memory, shown in the final season, depicts an eight-year-old Henry in a desert cave, finding a mysterious glowing red rock in a scientist’s briefcase after attacking him. If Other Worlds picks up that thread, its 1955 Nevada setting is the place and time where the franchise’s mythology began.
What it means for the franchise
The order tests whether Stranger Things can survive as a franchise without its original cast, creators or town. Netflix says the series has drawn more than 1.2 billion views across its first four seasons since 2016, and the final season reached 105.7 million total views by early January 2026, ninth on Netflix’s all-time English-language TV list.
Frequently asked questions
What is Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure?
It is a live-action Stranger Things prequel ordered by Netflix, set in Marion, Nevada, in 1955 — before the flagship series and the stage play The First Shadow.
When does Other Worlds come out?
Netflix says it will premiere in 2028. No month or exact date has been announced.
Who created Other Worlds?
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer and Kate Trefry co-created it. Trefry is showrunner, writer and executive producer; Joe Wright directs the first three episodes.
Will any of the original Stranger Things cast return?
No. The Hollywood Reporter says it will have an all-new cast and story; no actors have been named and casting has yet to begin.
Is Other Worlds connected to Henry Creel and Vecna?
Netflix has confirmed no plot details. But the Duffers have suggested the series will address Henry Creel’s backstory and the Nevada desert encounter where he first connected with the Mind Flayer.