Stranger Things Reveals First Looks at New Villains in 2026 Return

Netflix has given a first look at Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, revealing a wide range of terrifying new monsters. Set between seasons 1 and 2, Tales from ’85 is an animated Stranger Things adventure that’s apparently cracked the spinoff code. According to showrunner Eric Robles, it will feature “a lot of freaking cool monsters,” although he stressed that it’s not a a “monster of the week” story. The new Tales from ’85 trailer confirms as much, hinting at evolving threats and dangerous creatures.

The setting makes Tales from ’85 something of a mystery. The gate to the Upside Down was closed at this point in time, which meant anything from the Upside Down should have died when it was cut off from the Mind Flayer hive mind. Season 5 did confirm that Hawkins Lab conducted a lot more secret experiments than anybody guessed, so it’s possible samples were being experimented on when it was shut down – samples that survived and escaped. “These woods hide a lot of mistakes,” Hopper warns in the trailer, words that seem prophetic. But what are these new monsters and possible mistakes?

A Chitinous Scorpion-Like Creature

The first creatures seen in the trailer are unlike any we’ve seen before, setting a precedent for a new visual style. They’re relatively small, move fast, and visually resemble a monstrous version of a scorpion – albeit with a disproportionate maw. These creatures are seen in and around what seems to be Hawkins Lab, and are shown apparently surrounding a scientist as he attempts to use a flamethrower on them. Note the chitinous exoskeleton, which looks a little different to the monsters we’re used to from the Upside Down.

A Vine Creatre Akin to a Blight from Dungeons & Dragons

The next creature is more mysterious, and appears to change form over the course of the trailer – with dialogue hinting its evolving (akin to Dustin failing to recognize that Dart would grow into a Demodog and then into a Demogorgon). This creature begins as vines of some kind, but it ultimately mutates into a sinister pumpkin form. It feels very much Dungeons & Dragons-coded (appropriate for Stranger Things), but we don’t really see enough to say exactly what it is. There are two major options:

• A Bodytaker Plant, with the pumpkin-like head serving as a paralytic maw. If this is the Stranger Things version of a Bodytaker plant, the creatures reproduce at speed and share a form of hive mind of their own.
• A Vine Blight, a creature that affects all plant-life within an area and mutates into dangerous new forms. Forests affected by vine blights quickly become twisted and corrupted places, and the interaction between the curse of the blight and preexisting vegetation means there are a wide range of forms.

The second is perhaps the most interesting, because it may explain why we have so many different types of creatures in the trailer (and, likely, far more in the show). It would also explain why none of these creatures are seen in the Upside Down or the Abyss.

A Mysterious Creature in a Hallway

We see even less of the next monster, which appears to be in a corridor of some kind. Note the repeated green coloration, perhaps hinting at a vegetation-based background again. This time, the creature has very visible claws, scraping them across a wall. It’s clearly taller than an average human, looming and dangerous.

A Final Monster Bigger Than All the Rest

The final creature seen in the Tales from ’85 trailer again bears a resemblance to some form of Vine Blight, perhaps hinting that particular theory is correct. It’s the largest to date, with the same basic kind of physique and a massive maw. Another shot shows the same monster using those massive vines to grab people and pull them into its jaws. Given the size, this may well be the “Boss Fight” at the end of the season.

It’s important to note that Robles has hinted there will be many different monsters in Stranger Things: Tales from ’85. If this is indeed a Vine Blight, then pretty much any plantlife or vegetation could become twisted and corrupted, meaning the entire forest could be the source of the danger. We’ll learn more when the show releases in April.

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