Stranger Things 5 may have wrapped in January, but we haven’t seen the last of Hawkins. The Duffer Brothers are taking us back to ’85 with new series Stranger Things: Tales from ’85. Tuesday, Netflix dropped a neon-dripped new look at animated spin-off, revealing seven cool character cards. In addition, the announcement introduces a new character set to join Eleven, Mike, and the others on their adventures. Odessa A’zion will voice Nikki Baxter.
Check out the epic character posters here!
Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 takes place between season two and season three of Stranger Things. Set during the winter, Hawkins enters a strange sense of calm as the horrors of the Upside Down are temporarily put to rest. Max, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Eleven, and Mike settle back into routine, filling their days with D&D and snowball fights. As the audience, we know better than to trust the illusion of normalcy. Nothing stays quiet in Hawkins for long. Danger roars from beneath the ice, thrusting the party back into another adventure. Does this new threat come from Hawkins Lab, the Upside Down, or something else entirely?
Nikki Baxter offers a new perspective to the Hawkins we know and love. Baxter is a transfer student from the East Coast, meaning she comes into the world of monsters completely new. She is kind, loyal, unafraid, and embracing of her punk-rock style. A’zion, who most recently starred as Rachel in Marty Supreme, will voice the new character.
“Nikki is the audience’s eyes,” showrunner Eric Robles explains. “She comes into this world completely new. She’s got her own issues that she’s been dealing with, and it’s these kids who step into her world in a sense.” So when the chaos starts to unfold, “she’s got to figure things out with the kids because there’s no way that she could just walk away [from what she’s seen] and pretend like it never happened.”
Netflix’s characters posters are an exciting new addition as we get closer to Tales from ’85. The animation style is everything we could want from a Stranger Things spin-off. The Duffer Brothers return to produce the animated series, with Eric Robles as showrunner. Stranger Things: Tales of ’85 hits Netflix on April 23, 2026.