Netflix Is Changing Forever In Just 1 Week
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
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.
Release Date
April 23, 2026
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Eric Robles
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt
Eleven
Odessa A'zion
Nikki Baxter
Jolie Hoang-Rappaport
Max
