STRANGER THINGS IS HEADING BACK TO THE 1950S WITH NEW PREQUEL SERIES

Netflix isn't ready to leave the Upside Down behind. On Stranger Things Day (November 6, the day Will Byers disappeared in the first season), the streaming giant officially announced Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, a new live-action prequel series scheduled to premiere in 2028. The story takes place in Marion, Nevada, on April 19, 1955, decades before Eleven and the gang started dealing with monsters, secret laboratories, and the occasional government conspiracy in Hawkins, Indiana.

The new series will explore mysteries connected to Henry Creel and his past, including the strange events in Nevada that helped shape the events of Stranger Things. But don't expect familiar characters simply running around with younger actors. The Duffer Brothers are promising an entirely new setting, characters, and threats while maintaining the craziness and mystery that made the original series such a massive hit.

Longtime Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry, who also wrote the stage production Stranger Things: The First Shadow, will serve as showrunner and co-creator alongside Matt and Ross Duffer. Joe Wright, whose directing credits include Atonement and Darkest Hour, will direct the first three episodes. Casting hasn't been announced, and production is expected to take place in New Mexico.

From a business standpoint, this seems like a pretty smart move for Netflix. For all the money the company has spent developing original programming, it has struggled to find another franchise with the same lasting cultural impact as Stranger Things. Sure, there have been a few enormous hits along the way, but how many have generated this kind of excitement, merchandise, and a dedicated fanbase for an entire decade? With the original series now over, Netflix has a massive hole in its lineup, and continuing to build on one of its strongest brands makes a lot of sense.

The real question is whether Stranger Things can survive without the characters who made everybody fall in love with it in the first place. Hawkins was a huge part of the appeal, but so were Eleven, Dustin, Steve, and the rest of that woefully dysfunctional group. Taking the franchise back to the 1950s gives the creators plenty of room to explore its mythology without being forced into revisiting the same characters. If Netflix can pull that off, the Upside Down might have quite a few stories left to tell.