With the release of Stranger Things: Chronicles of 1985 on April 23, 2026 on Netflixthe Hawkins universe returns as an animated series. Set between seasons 2 and 3 of the live series, this “lost season” follows Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max, Hopper, Steve and the newcomer Nikki Baxter facing an unprecedented threat.
In ten episodes of approximately half an hour, the animated spin-off offers a frozen winter of 1985, a new monster and a real cliffhanger finale. Obviously, the question immediately arises: will Netflix transform the trial with a season 2 or will it be a single animated interlude in the saga? Stranger Things ?
Stranger Things: Chronicles of 1985 season 2: Has Netflix already given the green light?
At this point, the answer is simple: no season 2 has been made official For Stranger Things: Chronicles of 1985. As Netflix News and Dexerto remind us, the series has just arrived on the platform and no renewal has been announced or publicly teased by Netflix.
However, the project is not presented as canceled. The teams seem to be waiting to see how this first salvo will perform before deciding. This is Netflix’s usual strategy for its series, even more so for an animated spin-off which must find its audience among historical fans and a younger audience.
Why a season 2 of Stranger Things: Chronicles of 1985 remains very credible
First of all, Stranger Things remains one of Netflix’s flagship licenses, while the main series ended at the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026 with season 5. Chronicles of 1985 is the first animated spin-off, designed to extend the brand after the live finale, with a more accessible tone while keeping the Upside Down as a backdrop.
Then, the chosen time slot leaves some margin. The action takes place during the winter of 1985, between the end of season 2 and the start of season 3, which still offers several “free” months to tell other intrigues without contradicting continuity. The showrunner Eric Robles also explained that he had “already thought about how to approach potential future seasons for Chronicles of 1985“, while specifying that everything will depend on “if Netflix decides to do others”, as he told the Washington Post, cited by Dexerto.
Above all, season 1 ends with an open finale. The cliffhanger of the tenth episode clearly leaves room for new stories and certain characters introduced in the anime, including Nikki Baxter, do not yet have a fully connected trajectory with season 3. Narratively, everything is in place for a season 2.
When could Chronicles of 1985 season 2 be released if Netflix says yes?
This is where things get complicated. Animation requires long production times: between writing, storyboarding and frame-by-frame production, this type of series often takes several years. This is why no credible date can be brought forward until Netflix has officially announced a renewal.
Concretely, even if season 2 received a green light in the coming months, we would have to be patient before seeing Hawkins again in the animated version. In the meantime, the best way to weigh in the balance remains to increase the figures of Stranger Things: Chronicles of 1985 : watch season 1 to the end, talk about it on the networks and show Netflix that there is still a strong demand to explore the winter of 1985 in Hawkins.