Over the course of five seasons across nearly a decade, Stranger Thingsemerged as a platform-defining hit for Netflix. It makes sense that the streamer wants to milk the intellectual property (IP) for all that it is worth, and a new chapter in the epic saga is just around the corner. The mainline series concluded its generational run in 2025, with Netflix releasing episodes in blocks. The feature-length finale debuted on December 31, but it wasn’t exactly a home run. The final season received an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While this was still a very positive note to end on, it was nowhere near the 97% score of the first season, which debuted in 2016. Both Netflix and franchise creators, the Duffer Brothers, hope that the franchise returns to form with the forthcoming spin-off.
This is easier said than done, given how difficult it has been for spin-offs of landmark shows. House of the Dragon still seems to be finding its feet, even though audiences are hungry for Game of Thrones to deliver the magic of the earlier seasons. Taylor Sheridan knocked it out of the park with 1883 and 1923, but neither show captured the popular imagination quite like Yellowstone. The new Stranger Things spin-off is spearheaded by Eric Robles, with the Duffer Brothers returning as executive producers alongside Shawn Levy. A new cast will take over the roles made popular by the original show’s breakout stars, including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp, David Harbour, and others.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Here’s What ‘Stranger Things’ Fans Can Expect From the New Spin-Off
The show we’re talking about, of course, is Stranger Things: Tales from ’85. It’s an animated spin-off set between the events of the mainline show’s second and third seasons, which aired in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The spin-off has been modeled on popular Saturday morning cartoons from the 1980s, such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Scooby-Doo, and The Real Ghostbusters. The show will be set in the winter of 1985 and will feature the fan-favorite characters as they tackle new supernatural sci-fi mysteries. New characters will be voiced by Odessa A’zion and Janeane Garofalo. Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 premieres on April 23 on Netflix. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
