Netflix Orders Stranger Things Prequel “Other Worlds,” Set in 1955 Nevada
Netflix has ordered a live-action prequel to Stranger Things. It is called Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure and is due on Netflix in 2028.
The reveal came on November 6, which fans celebrate every year as Stranger Things Day. The date marks Will Byers’ disappearance in 1983.
Marion, Nevada, 1955
The prequel takes place about 30 years before the original series. It also comes before the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
The announcement post summed it up this way: “Before Hawkins, there was Marion.”
The first teaser is short. A boom box sits on an old bike, playing the 1950s doo-wop song “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream).” The camera tilts up to a cloudy sky, and a title card reads April 19, 1955, Marion, Nevada. A thunderous sound then breaks the sky open and shows what may be another version of the Upside Down.
Kate Trefry runs the show
Matt and Ross Duffer co-create the series and executive produce it through Upside Down Pictures. Kate Trefry also co-creates and is the showrunner. She wrote The First Shadow and has worked with the Duffers since Season 2.
Joe Wright directs the first three episodes. He has won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and he directed Atonement and Pride & Prejudice. Shawn Levy executive produces through his company 21 Laps. Filming takes place in New Mexico.
What Netflix is not saying yet
Netflix has not announced a cast. The Duffers say casting is the next step. Beyond the year and the place, no plot details have been released.
The Duffers describe the show as Stranger Things with a new setting and new heroes and villains. They ended their statement with “watch the skies, nerds!” Levy says the series has an all-new ensemble and its own mythology, and says the seeds of it may have been planted in Hawkins.
One more branch of a growing franchise
Stranger Things debuted on Netflix in 2016. Its first four seasons passed 1.2 billion views, and the fifth and final season had Netflix’s biggest English-language premiere week. Other Worlds is the second TV spinoff, after the animated Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. The franchise also includes a Tony Award-winning stage production and live experiences at Netflix House.
Netflix has given only the year for the premiere.
