The Stranger Things Universe Is Expanding with an Animated Spin-Off, VR Game, and Stage Show

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Image: Netflix

Netflix has announced that the Stranger Things universe is set to expand with projects ranging from the small screen to the stage, and even virtual reality. Currently, there is not much known about the animated show other than that Netflix has ordered the show. The Duffer brothers’ Upside Down Pictures will executive produce the show alongside Eric Robles and Flying Bark Productions (Random! Cartoons, Fanboy & Chum Chum, Glitch Techs) and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps.

Statement from the Duffer Brothers (via Variety)

“We’ve always dreamed of an animated ‘Stranger Things’ in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling,” the Duffer brothers said in a statement. We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with — the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues…”

Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is a new stage show set to open in London towards the end of the year. Priority tickets went on sale on March 28 with general admission ticket sales following on March 30. The stage production takes place in 1959 and is a new story that will explore how it all began with the tagline “Before we continue, we must go back.”

Stranger Things VR

The Stranger Things VR game is being developed by Tender Claws who are an award-winning studio based in Los Angeles. Tender Claws has worked on Pry, Virtual Reality 1 & 2, Tumball, and an AR pet sim called Tendar. Announced in November 2022 the Stranger Things VR game will allow players to play as the evil sorcerer-protagonist, Vecna, and is set to launch at the end of the year.

Description

“Play as Vecna in this new Stranger Things adventure in VR. Become an explorer of unknown realities as you form the hive mind and tame the void. Invade minds and conjure nightmares in your quest to enact revenge on Eleven and Hawkins. Stranger Things VR is a psychological horror/action game developed by Tender Claws and coming to major VR platforms in Winter 2023.”

Netflix has not said when season 5, the final season, of Stranger Things, will air but it appears that at least the stage show, and perhaps the VR game, will be out before it. Netflix had also previously said it was working on a live-action spin-off series but there has been no word if that is still happening or if the animated show has replaced it. Meanwhile, the previous season broke Neilsen’s streaming records during its spring 2022 debut run.

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Peter Brosdahl
As a child of the 70’s I was part of the many who became enthralled by the video arcade invasion of the 1980’s. Saving money from various odd jobs I purchased my first computer from a friend of my dad, a used Atari 400, around 1982. Eventually it would end up being a lifelong passion of upgrading and modifying equipment that, of course, led into a career in IT support.

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