Stranger Things prequel Other Worlds: 1955 Nevada, Joe Wright and a 2028 release, what is confirmed

Netflix is taking Stranger Things back in time. On Friday 6 November, the date fans now celebrate as Stranger Things Day because it is when Will Byers vanished in 1983, the streamer announced Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a live-action prequel series set in Marion, Nevada, in 1955. It is due to arrive in 2028.

The announcement came with a short teaser in place of a plot synopsis. Around thirty seconds long, it shows an abandoned bicycle lying beside the fence of a restricted government site, an image that will feel familiar to anyone who remembers how the original series began with Will's bike left behind in Hawkins, Indiana. Beyond the year, the place and that single shot, Netflix has kept the story to itself.

What we do know is who is making it. The series comes from Matt and Ross Duffer, who created the original show, and Kate Trefry, a long-serving writer on Stranger Things who also wrote the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Trefry will be showrunner and an executive producer. Joe Wright, the British director behind Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, will direct the first three episodes and is also an executive producer, as is Shawn Levy through his company 21 Laps. Filming is planned to take place in New Mexico.

In their statement, the Duffer brothers said: "We've been dreaming of Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure for many years now." They described the new series as fresh, with a new setting and new heroes and villains, before admitting they were not allowed to say any more and signing off with "watch the skies, nerds!" Trefry, who credited the brothers with giving her her first paid job in Hollywood, closed her own message with three words: "Welcome to Other Worlds."

That leaves plenty still to be revealed. No cast has been announced, and Netflix has not said how many episodes the series will have, given a firmer release date than 2028 or published a plot description. It has also not said whether any familiar characters will appear, so for now the only firm promise is the Duffers' one of new heroes and villains.

The 1950s Nevada setting has nevertheless prompted entertainment outlets to draw a line to Henry Creel, the boy who grew up to become Vecna, and to the cave he wandered into as a child, a thread the original series left partly open. It is an intriguing idea, but nothing in the official announcement mentions Henry or Vecna, and Netflix has not confirmed any connection.

Other Worlds is the latest addition to a franchise that has kept growing since the original series ended its five-season run in 2025. The First Shadow, which follows a young Henry Creel, has played in the West End and on Broadway, the animated series Stranger Things: Tales From '85 extends the story in another direction, and members of the original cast have moved on to new projects of their own, among them Gaten Matarazzo, who leads the RENT return in the West End.

With a 2028 release window, Other Worlds is still some way off, and the next announcement to watch for is the cast. Until then, the teaser and that lonely bicycle are all there is to go on. Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure will stream on Netflix.

Images: Netflix.