Stranger Things goes back to 1955: Netflix confirms live-action prequel Other Worlds, with Joe Wright directing, for 2028

Stranger Things is going back in time. Netflix has confirmed Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel series set in the 1950s, and says it will premiere in 2028.

The streamer announced the series on Stranger Things Day, 6 November, the date in 1983 on which Will Byers vanished in the show’s first episode. A teaser released with the announcement opens on an abandoned bicycle near a restricted area at night, with town lights in the distance and something tearing open in the sky, set to the 1954 doo-wop hit Sh-Boom. Its tagline: “Before Hawkins, there was Marion.”

When and where is it set?

On 19 April 1955, in Marion, Nevada. That puts it before the original series, which began in 1983, and before Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the stage play set in 1959 that follows a teenage Henry Creel, the boy who would become the villain Vecna. Part of The First Shadow already takes place in the Nevada desert, and Matt Duffer said last year that a spin-off would explain the mysterious rock Henry finds in a scientist’s briefcase in the caves there.

Who is making it?

Kate Trefry, who wrote The First Shadow and was a writer on the original series, is the showrunner and co-created the series with Matt and Ross Duffer. Joe Wright, the British director of Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Darkest Hour, will direct the first three episodes and is an executive producer, alongside the Duffers and Shawn Levy, who directed several of the original series’ episodes.

The Duffers will not run the series day to day because of their exclusive overall deal with Paramount, which excludes their Stranger Things work through their company, Upside Down Pictures. In a statement, the brothers said they had been dreaming of the series “for many years now”. Trefry’s statement ended simply: “Welcome to Other Worlds.”

Will the original cast be in it?

Not as far as anyone has been told. Netflix says the series has new heroes and villains, and no casting has been announced. Fan speculation about returning stars is just that.

Why does it matter?

Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s biggest franchises. Its fifth and final season was released in three parts over Christmas 2025, ending on New Year’s Eve, and The First Shadow has played in London’s West End and on Broadway. A prequel with new characters lets Netflix keep the franchise going after the original story has ended, and hiring a director whose films have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars raises the stakes for it.

For Australian viewers, the series will stream on Netflix here, but no date has been announced.