It may be the last season of Netflix’s smash-hit sci-fi series Stranger Things, but the streamer is keeping a tight grip on one of its most valuable IPs by giving it an animated expansion.
Australia’s Flying Bark Productions (100% Wolf) and animator Eric Robles (Glitch Techs) are developing a new animated spinoff of the series alongside creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer (a.k.a the Duffer brothers). Robles is executive producing through Flying Bark, alongside the Duffer brothers under their Upside Down Pictures banner. Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen are also executive producers via their 21 Laps prodco (Free Guy).
It is likely the series will see the IP aged down a bit, with the Duffers dropping the hint that the style of the series will be “in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving.”
Despite its strong horror elements, the series is popular with younger audiences. Research firm KidsKnowBest pegged Stranger Things as 12- to 16-year-olds’ favorite show in both the US and the UK as per a 2022 survey.
Since debuting in 2016, Stranger Things has become Netflix’s most-watched English-language series of all time, according to the streamer. Season four, which launched last summer, racked up 1.35 billion viewing hours within the first month.
The series’ fifth and final season is in development and last year, Netflix announced a live-action spinoff series from Upside Down and 21 Laps. The IP is also expanding into a play, slated to open in late 2023 in London’s West End.
Image courtesy of Netflix.