Netflix Is Fixing the Oldest Stranger Things Complaint in 2026 (but It’s Already Too Late)

Stranger Things was easily one of Netflix’s most popular, successful shows for years, but there’s no denying that season 5 put a major damper on the series overall. Among the things that proved incredibly controversial with the final season of the show was Eleven’s fate, which meant that she was either dead or could never be reunited with her family and friends again, and the way that various other characters’ stories felt unsatisfying, from Will and Mike barely discussing Will’s feelings to Henry Creel/Vecna’s story arc in the play The First Shadow somehow seeming basically irrelevant.

While many of these complaints stem from the story itself, though, there was actually a major fan grievance about season 5 even before it was released—and it’s one that has in fact plagued not only Stranger Things but also Netflix shows and other streaming shows on myriad platforms more broadly for quite some time. It seems Netflix may have learned from this mistake with one of its upcoming Stranger Things releases, but for many in the fanbase, it’s almost certainly too little too late.

Stranger Things Had a Major Release Schedule Problem

Even before the story details of Stranger Things season 5 angered fans, many were already frustrated with the final season. One major reason for these frustrations was the release schedule, which meant that the fifth season was coming out in 2025—a full three years after the 2022 release of season 4. This was consistent with the gap between seasons 3 and 4, as the third season had been released in 2019. This nearly decade-long issue had grown with time, as season 1 came out in 2016, and season 2 was released in 2017.

Beyond just meaning that fans were anxious to see new episodes and were growing impatient with the increasingly long breaks, the multi-year gaps between Stranger Things seasons affected fans’ investment in the show. After all, cliffhangers like the one in the Stranger Things season 4 finale are thrilling, but over the course of three years, viewers can only hold onto so much excitement. In fact, ahead of season 5, there was plenty of buzz online about audiences not even remembering all that had transpired in season 4 (a particularly big problem given how complex and revelatory that story arc was).

Stranger Things is far from the only perpetrator of this issue. Other Netflix shows, including the fan-favorite series Bridgerton, have also suffered from massive gaps between seasons. Even beyond Netflix, many other streaming shows have fallen into the same problem. As just one (rather shocking) example, HBO’s Big Little Lies season 3 is reportedly still in the works, although season 2 was released a full seven years ago, in 2019. Clearly, this extends far beyond Netflix, but it does seem as though the streamer has learned from its mistakes—just not in time.

Tales From ’85 Isn’t Suffering From the Same Issue

Although the main Stranger Things show is officially over, the franchise has continued to expand. This is happening in myriad ways, although the most direct spinoff to the show is Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, an animated series that is set between seasons 2 and 3 of the original show and includes (mostly) the same characters. The first season of Tales From ’85 was released on Netflix on April 23, 2026, not very long after the Stranger Things finale. While that already suggested some much quicker movement in this franchise, Tales From ’85 season 2 has cemented that.

Although Netflix has not yet announced the official release date for Tales From ’85 season 2, it is expected to hit the platform at some point in late 2026—meaning a gap of only several months between seasons 1 and 2. This is obviously a massive change from Stranger Things’ release schedule and therefore suggests that Netflix is trying to correct this major complaint from the past. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to make a significant difference to fans at this point, for various reasons.

Can the Stranger Things Franchise Really Move Forward?

While it’s good to see Netflix making changes to the release schedules of its shows (or so it seems from Tales From ’85, at least), that doesn’t automatically mean Tales From ’85 season 2 will receive a warmer reception than its predecessors. Unfortunately, the animated series has a major uphill battle when it comes to pleasing audiences. As a point of comparison, after years of stellar Rotten Tomatoes scores, consistently reaching 80% and above with audiences, Stranger Things season 5 has a bleak 52% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and Tales From ’85 season 1 isn’t much better at 53%.

It appears that Stranger Things season 5 put such a bad taste in many viewers’ mouths that they’re unwilling to give new projects a chance—something that has presumably affected the Duffer brothers’ other projects as well, given the cancellation of The Boroughs after just one season. Sadly, it seems Netflix may have learned its lesson about gaps between seasons too late, in addition to a variety of other factors hurting fans’ opinions of the overall Stranger Things franchise.

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