Stranger Things is leaving Hawkins behind—at least for a while. Netflix has announced Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel series set in 1955 Nevada and scheduled to arrive on the service in 2028. The project was unveiled on Stranger Things Day, with a teaser pointing toward the fictional town of Marion, Nevada. The new prequel series and its 2028 release window are the first major details Netflix has shared about the long-awaited expansion.
The series comes from Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of Stranger Things, alongside longtime franchise writer Kate Trefry. Trefry will serve as showrunner, co-creator, writer, and executive producer, while Joe Wright—known for Atonement, Darkest Hour, and Pride & Prejudice—will direct the first three episodes. Production is planned for New Mexico. Netflix’s official announcement describes the show as a fresh story with new heroes, villains, setting, and mythology rather than another adventure for Eleven, Mike, Dustin, and the rest of the Hawkins group.
The timeline gives Other Worlds a particularly interesting place in the franchise’s growing chronology. It takes place decades before the original series and earlier than Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the stage play centered on Henry Creel in 1959. Independent coverage has identified the teaser’s more specific date as April 19, 1955, with Marion serving as the story’s Nevada setting. Variety’s reporting also notes that plot information remains deliberately limited, suggesting Netflix is saving the show’s supernatural hook for a later reveal.
Trefry’s involvement makes the connection to The First Shadow more than a simple continuity footnote. She wrote the stage play as well as episodes of the flagship series, giving her an established role in exploring the franchise’s earlier decades and darker mythology. Wright’s attachment, meanwhile, signals a cinematic approach for a project that Netflix is positioning as a new entry point rather than a conventional continuation.
The timing is also strategic. Netflix says the original series has accumulated more than 1.2 billion views across its first four seasons, while the franchise has expanded into animation, live experiences, and theater. Other Worlds will therefore arrive as part of a broader effort to keep Stranger Things active after the main story concludes, using a new cast and period setting to widen the universe without simply repeating the Hawkins formula.
For now, Netflix has announced neither a precise premiere date nor casting details. The 2028 window is the firmest schedule available, and the teaser’s Nevada setting is the clearest clue to the story’s direction. With filming ahead and casting still to come, the next meaningful look at Other Worlds will likely reveal whether its connection to the familiar mythology is a direct prequel thread or an entirely new supernatural mystery.
