Netflix is extending Stranger Things beyond Hawkins with Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel scheduled to arrive in 2028.
The company announced the series on Nov. 6, known to fans as Stranger Things Day, through Netflix Tudum and an official Netflix title page.
Other Worlds comes from Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer and longtime franchise writer Kate Trefry. Netflix said Trefry, who also wrote the stage prequel Stranger Things: The First Shadow, will serve as showrunner, co-creator, writer and executive producer.
Joe Wright will direct the first three episodes and executive produce. Additional executive producers include the Duffer Brothers via Upside Down Pictures, Shawn Levy and 21 Laps, Paul Dichter, Shelley Meals, Andrea Sperling and Pavlina Hatoupis.
Netflix has confirmed that production will take place in New Mexico. As of Nov. 10, the company had not announced a cast, an episode count or a more specific 2028 release date.
The prequel goes earlier than The First Shadow
Netflix places Other Worlds in the 1950s, before both the original series and The First Shadow. The stage play explores Henry Creel’s past in Hawkins in 1959, while the new show moves the timeline further back.
Variety and Engadget reported that Netflix’s announcement teaser identifies Marion, Nevada, in 1955 as the setting.
What the announcement says about Netflix’s franchise strategy
For Netflix, Other Worlds keeps Stranger Things active after all five seasons of the main series became available on the service. Netflix says the original show has generated more than 1.2 billion views across seasons 1 through 4, with seasons 4 and 5 among its most popular TV seasons.
The key choice is that Netflix is not pitching the next live-action chapter as a direct continuation of the Hawkins group. The Duffer Brothers described it as Stranger Things with “new heroes and villains,” while producer Shawn Levy described a new ensemble, era, characters, themes and mythology.
That makes Other Worlds a test of whether the brand can work as a shared mythology, rather than only as a story about one town and one group of characters. Audience response to the new cast and setting may matter as much as the show’s ties to the mythology of Hawkins and the Upside Down.
What remains unknown
Netflix has not released a full plot description explaining how directly the new series connects to Henry Creel, Vecna or the events of the original show. The Duffers said the series still belongs in the Stranger Things world, then stopped short of sharing more.
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