Netflix will face a major change next week through an ambitious plan, and it could pave the way forward for many of its popular shows once they are done with their runs. Netflix’s most popular TV shows list is an ever-changing beast. After all, several new shows of the most varied genres are released each month, let alone each year.
Recently, a new thriller series broke into Netflix’s best TV shows list after dominating streaming charts at the start of 2026. That show is the 6-part crime thriller His & Hers, which saw Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson spar onscreen as an estranged couple trying to find out who was committing a series of murders in a small town.
His & Hers is now Netflix’s 10th most-watched TV show of all time. On that list are other huge releases like Bridgerton, Wednesday, Adolescence, and, of course, Stranger Things. After debuting in 2016, the sci-fi horror series would grow to become Netflix’s flagship show. However,Stranger Things came to an end on December 31, 2025, with the release of the season 5 finale.
The end of the show is not the final stop for the popular franchise, as Netflix will be releasing the first Stranger Things spinoff, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, next week, on Thursday, April 23. It is through that show’s release that everything could change for the streamer. There is a very good reason why the Stranger Things spinoff will change Netflix forever.
Netflix’s Flagship Show Is Changing Mediums
Hawkins, Indiana · 1986 Which Stranger Things Character Are You? “Friends don’t lie.”
🧠 Eleven The Protector
📡 Mike The Leader
🤓 Dustin The Brain
🏂 Max The Fighter
🪧 Steve The Babysitter
01
It’s Friday night in Hawkins. What are you doing?
02
The lights start flickering and something growls in the dark. What’s your first instinct?
03
Your best friend is missing and nobody believes you. What do you do?
04
How would people at Hawkins High describe you?
05
Someone at school is being bullied right in front of you. What do you do?
06
You discover something impossible — a secret that could change everything. Who do you tell?
07
When things feel overwhelming and the world seems dark, how do you cope?
08
When the Upside Down is finally closed and Hawkins is safe, what matters most to you?
Hawkins Lab Report Complete Your Stranger Things Alter Ego
🧠
Eleven
“I can save them. I’m the only one who can.” You’re quiet but powerful — and people underestimate you at their own risk. You didn’t have the easiest start in life, but that’s made you fiercely protective of the people you love. You don’t always have the words, but your actions speak volumes. When everyone else is running away from danger, you’re walking straight toward it. You carry more than anyone should, and you rarely ask for help — but you’re learning that vulnerability isn’t weakness.
Powerful Protective Resilient Empathetic
📡
Mike Wheeler
“We never would have upset you if we knew you had superpowers.” You’re the natural leader of your group — not because you’re the loudest or the strongest, but because you genuinely care. You’re passionate, sometimes to a fault, and when you believe in something (or someone), you go all in. You hold your friends to high standards because you hold yourself to the same. People might see you as intense, but that intensity is born from love. You’d go to the Upside Down and back for the people in your life.
Passionate Loyal Determined Emotional
🤓
Dustin Henderson
“I am on a curiosity voyage, and I need my paddles to travel.” You’re the glue that holds everything together, even if nobody realizes it. Your brain never stops working — you see connections other people miss, and you’re not afraid to geek out about it. Sure, people might laugh at your enthusiasm, but you don’t care because you know who you are. You bring heart and humor to every situation, and when things get dark, you’re the one who reminds everyone that there’s still something worth fighting for.
Brilliant Optimistic Authentic Heart
🏂
Max Mayfield
“I’m not afraid of you.” You’re tough — not because you want to be, but because life made you that way. You’ve built walls higher than Castle Byers, and you don’t let just anyone past them. But beneath that armor is someone who feels everything deeply and fights harder than anyone for the people she loves. You cope through independence and sometimes push people away when you need them most. But when you finally let someone in? That bond is unbreakable.
Fierce Independent Brave Complex
🪧
Steve Harrington
“How many times do I have to save you people?” You’re the unlikely hero — the person nobody expected to step up, least of all yourself. You started out focused on your hair and your reputation, but when it mattered, you discovered something more important: protecting the people who need you. You’re brave, selfless, and way more capable than you give yourself credit for. You might downplay your role with a joke, but everyone knows: when the Demogorgon shows up, you’re the one grabbing the nail bat.
Selfless Brave Loyal Underestimated
After spending nearly a decade as Netflix’s flagship show, the fact that Stranger Things is coming back after its ending as an animated series changes the game for the streaming service. Sure, the show is a spinoff, but Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 uses the same beloved characters seen in the original show, such as Steve, Hopper, Eleven, Mike, and many more.
Essentially, Netflix is keeping its biggest TV show alive, only in another medium, using a prequel storyline — Tales from ’85 is set between Stranger Things seasons 2 and 3 — to explain how Eleven can officially return despite seemingly dying at the end of the main show. Besides jumping into animation, the new Stranger Things series will also recast all the beloved roles from the Netflix series.
Can Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Be As Popular As The Original Show?
If Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is as successful as the original show, or close to it, then Netflix will forever be changed. The streamer could start exploring animated spinoffs set within other time periods in hit series like Wednesday, The Witcher (which has released animated movies already), Black Mirror, and more when they are ready to end. This would virtually keep them running “forever.”
That said, I don’t believe Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 will be quite as popular as the original show, simply because there is usually a drop-off in franchise interest from live-action to animation. However, it does not need to be. If Tales from ’85 is half as successful as Stranger Things, then it could open the door all the same for other Netflix shows to get the animated resurrection treatment.
