Stranger Things Is Officially Repeating One Annoying Story for the Third Time in 9 Years

Stranger Things is officially repeating the same story for the third time in nine years, and it’s a frustrating one at that — so, hopefully, its new spinoff doesn’t spend too much time on it. Although Stranger Things Season 5 brought the original story to a close in December, the franchise is already returning later this year. Its first spinoff — the animated Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 — will reunite us with the Hawkins gang for an investigation set between Seasons 2 and 3. The series debuts in April, and while it’s not the most exciting fantasy release of 2026, it’s sure to get attention as the franchise’s first expansion attempt.

And the recently unveiled trailer for Tales From ’85 reveals what Eleven and the others will be up to in the upcoming spinoff. However, while a new, standalone mystery has some potential, it risks retconning Stranger Things and creating further plot holes. That’s not the only potential problem, either. The first look also confirms that we’ll be repeating an annoying story from the live-action show for the third time since Season 2. It’s unclear how much screen time it will take up, but it’s frustrating all the same.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Will Repeat the Most Annoying Hopper Story a Third Time

Eleven and Hopper’s relationship is an important piece of Stranger Things‘ story, but it tends to explore the same territory over and over. Eleven is hiding from the government for most of her time with Hopper, and he’s immediately overprotective when he takes her in. This makes sense, considering he’s still grieving his daughter, but it also causes him to act in ways that are harmful to Eleven’s growth. Much of Hopper’s Season 2 arc involves learning to let go. And we repeat that journey during Stranger Things Season 5, with Hopper finally accepting that Eleven must make her own choices. It’s a good lesson for a parent to learn, but it often feels like the only thing Hopper’s journey is boiled down to. On top of that, it gets repetitive after a while. The show hardly adds anything fresh when returning to the conversation.

And now Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is set to repeat Hopper’s overprotective dad story a third time, with the newly animated version of him threatening Mike in the trailer. With the spinoff set right after Season 2, it makes some sense that Hopper is still acting this way. Even so, I hope that the spinoff doesn’t dwell too heavily on this storyline. We’ve already done it twice, and I’m doubtful there’s anything else to add to the discussion. Leaning into it also risks making Hopper’s Stranger Things Season 5 ending less believable, and it’s already not fully convincing.

Watch the full trailer for the new Stranger Things spinoff below:

The Stranger Things Spinoff Will Make Hopper’s Ending Even Less Convincing

After watching Hopper demonstrate overprotective behavior for multiple seasons, it’s hard to accept how fully he moves on in Stranger Things‘ series finale. Mike remains haunted by the loss of Eleven, but Hopper takes it in stride because it’s what she wanted. He wraps the series more focused on his relationship with Joyce. And while that’s nice to see after all they’ve been through, it rings a bit hollow. Yes, he learns to respect Eleven’s choices over the course of Season 5, but he seems far too optimistic about the way things play out — especially after all the back-and-forth we’ve seen from him on the topic. Returning to a time when he won’t let El live the way she wants will only highlight this further. It’s going to be jarring to see it at all, but leaning into it would definitely be the wrong move.

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