Netflix's New Stranger Things Episodes Officially Break 10-Year Streak

Published Sep 19, 2026, 1:19 PM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." The Stranger Things franchise has returned to Netflix with new episodes, but they have failed to keep a long, 10-year streak going. Stranger Things is one of the most-watched Netflix shows of all time. It is one of the streamer's few series to have multiple seasons on Netflix's all-time top 10 chart, with Stranger Things season 5 at 4th with 133.8 million views and season 4 at 3rd with 140.7 million views, according to official Netflix data. As such, the streaming service has grown used to seeing the franchise find renewed success over the years. However, Stranger Things has ended. With the final season of the sci-fi series being released on the final day of 2025, Netflix's release slate for 2026 was tasked with finding the streamer's next Stranger Things. Among the candidates were three shows created by Stranger Things bosses, the Duffer Brothers. One of those was the horror thriller Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, while the other was the sci-fi mystery The Boroughs. While the first told a self-contained story, the second was canceled while still trending on Netflix's charts. Then there was Stranger Things: Tales from '85, the franchise's first spinoff, which is now struggling on Netflix. Stranger Things: Tales From '85 Season 2 Can't Repeat The Franchise's Success At the time of writing, Stranger Things: Tales from '85 is nowhere to be found on both Netflix's Top 10 TV Shows list in the United States and the streamer's global chart. The animated Stranger Things spinoff is only trending in seven countries: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. Its highest spot is 7th. The only Netflix chart Stranger Things: Tales from '85 currently finds itself in is that of the streamer's TOP 10 Kids TV Shows in the United States, standing at 8th, according to FlixPatrol. Stranger Things: Tales from '85 season 2 was released on Netflix on September 17. This means the animated series has taken a nosedive compared to season 1's already tame performance. Back when Stranger Things: Tales from '85 season 1 arrived on Netflix on April 23, it became a global streaming sensation, if a short-lived one, trending on Netflix's global charts for two weeks. The Netflix sci-fi series peaked at 7th. That was already a far cry from the live-action Stranger Things, whose seasons topped Netflix's US and global charts for several weeks when they debuted. It has become clear that interest in Stranger Things: Tales from '85 was not high in season 1, and has since dwindled for season 2. Is There A Future For The Animated Spinoff? Image via Netflix Netflix has yet to renew Stranger Things: Tales from '85 for season 3, with the show's first two seasons both having been released in 2026. If season 3 follows the spinoff's operating style for its season 2 announcement, which came just five days after Stranger Things: Tales from '85 season 1 debuted, then the show's fate could be revealed next week. However, given how the animated series is not performing as well as both the original Stranger Things and its first season, there is a good chance that it might be canceled like the Duffer Brothers' The Boroughs, which actually trended worldwide. Release Date April 23, 2026 Network Netflix Showrunner Eric Robles Cast Brooklyn Davey Norstedt Eleven (voice) Jolie Hoang-Rappaport Max (voice) Directors Phil Allora, JJ Conway, Ben Choi Writers ChatGPT, Dan Milano, Ray Utarnachitt, Jennifer Muro, Chad Quandt, Chris Wyatt, Kevin Burke, Jen Bardekoff, Joshua Pruett Franchise(s) Stranger Things Creator(s) Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Eric Robles