Long before strange things started happening in Hawkins, Ind., even Stranger Things were going down in Marion, Nev. On Friday, Netflix dropped a first teaser for Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a prequel series to the Netflix blockbuster sci-fi serial, which wrapped up its Emmy-winning five-season run last year.
The minute-long clip is scored to the vintage doo-wop song, “Sh-Boom” (Life Could Be a Dream)”, which starts out playing at full strength as the camera pans over an abandoned bike and into an area marked “Restricted.” At that point, the music gets fuzzy and discordant, signaling the strange(r) things that are presumably about to come.
Overseen by Stranger Things masterminds Matt and Ross Duffer — who have left Netflix for Paramount, but still oversee all things Hawkins — plus their regular collaborator, Kate Trefy, the new series takes place in the 1950s, before the events of the Broadway show, The First Shadow. Production will start shortly in New Mexico with a cast to be announced at a later date.
Watch the teaser above and read on for everything you need to know about Other Worlds.
The plot
Here’s the official Other Worlds synopsis from Netflix’s Tudum publishing arm: “The prequel series Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure is set in the 1950s, decades before the Stranger Things gang uncovered a supernatural conspiracy in their small town of Hawkins, Indiana. The new show also predates the events of the award-winning stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which explores Henry Creel’s troubled past in Hawkins in 1959.”
The cast and creative team
No actors have been announced for Other Worlds yet, but Netflix did shine a light on the prequel show’s creative team. Besides the Duffer Brothers and Trefy, award-winning director Joe Wright has been enlisted to helm the first three episodes and executive producer-director Shawn Levy’s production company, 21Laps Entertainment, is part of the show’s creative DNA as well.
The awards prospects
While Season 1 of Stranger Things was an awards monster — with an eternally meme-worthy win for Best Drama Ensemble at the 2017 SAG Actor Awards — the rest of the run never quite equalled that freshman year excitement. Still, the series amassed a war chest of 64 Primetime Emmy nominations and 13 wins, as well as a prestigious Peabody Award. The First Shadow, meanwhile, expanded the franchise’s reach into the Tony Awards with six nominations and four winds. Sight unseen, Other Worlds is most likely to be most competitive in the below the line races, particularly visual effects and makeup, for all those creatures.
The release date
No confirmed release date has been announced for Other Worlds, but expect it sometime in 2028.
