Before Hawkins, there was Marion. Netflix chose Stranger Things Day to pull back the curtain on Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel that trades Hawkins, Indiana for a Nevada desert town and swaps the 1980s for 1955.
Rather than continuing the story of Eleven and the Hawkins crew, the new series plants its flag at the earliest point in the franchise timeline so far. Its story unfolds in the fictional town of Marion, Nevada, decades before the Stranger Things gang uncovered a supernatural conspiracy in Hawkins, and it even predates the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which explores Henry Creel's troubled past in Hawkins in 1959.
Behind the camera, the franchise's founding duo is handing the day-to-day reins to one of its own. Other Worlds is co-created by Matt and Ross Duffer alongside Kate Trefry, a Stranger Things writer since Season 2 who went on to write The First Shadow. Trefry will serve as writer and showrunner on the new series, while the Duffers executive produce through Upside Down Pictures.
"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," the Duffer Brothers said in a statement. The pair described the spin-off as thrillingly fresh, built around a new setting, new heroes and new villains. Jinny Howe, Netflix's head of scripted series for the US and Canada, added that the series "takes us to the 1950s with new heroes and all the heart, mystery, and spectacle of the original series."
Directing duties for the opening stretch belong to Joe Wright, the BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker behind Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and Darkest Hour. Wright will direct the first three episodes and also serves as an executive producer, alongside Shawn Levy of 21 Laps Entertainment.
A short teaser released with the announcement keeps every face hidden and lets the setting do the talking. It opens at night on an abandoned bicycle with a radio attached, left near a restricted area as distant lights glow, before the sky splits open with a thunderous crack; on-screen text then stamps the time and place, April 19, 1955, Marion, Nevada, while Sh-Boom by The Chords plays over the footage.
Watch the official announcement teaser here:
Franchise-wise, the flagship series has already taken its final bow, having closed out its story with its fifth season, while The First Shadow continues its run on stage. Other Worlds becomes the first live-action spin-off in the universe, joining the animated Stranger Things: Tales From '85 in expanding the world beyond the original show.
Its 1955 setting also puts the series on a collision course with established mythology. Both The First Shadow and the final season trace Henry Creel's transformation into Vecna back to the Nevada desert, where a young Henry encountered a mysterious otherworldly rock connected to a scientist's briefcase. Plot specifics for the new ensemble remain locked down, and casting is the next step, with production set to take place in New Mexico.
Netflix has not set an exact premiere date, but Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure is confirmed to stream in 2028.
Source: Netflix
