There was a time when Stranger Things dominated conversations about binge-worthy streaming shows. Fans were also in a constant cycle of waiting for the next season for the best part of 10 years. But now that the long-awaited fifth and final season is in the rearview, the hit sci-fi Netflix series no longer commands the same level of pop culture impact it once did, which is sad to see.
What Happened With Stranger Things Season 5?
Perhaps it has less to do with the fact that the flagship series is over and more to do with Stranger Things Season 5 being enormously divisive among viewers due to some of its creative decisions. So much that it led to the viral online theory “Conformity Gate,” which claimed the finale was fake and that another episode would follow. But, of course, that never happened.
Some fans were so disappointed they even launched an online petition—which reportedly got hundreds of thousands of signatures by the end—demanding that Netflix release a better cut of the entire season, after learning that an excess of raw footage had been shot for the final season.
Will Stranger Things ever find the same success it enjoyed for almost 10 years? Netflix was probably hoping to capture that same lightning in a bottle with the 3D animated series Tales From ’85, which premiered on the streamer earlier this year. Set between seasons 2 and 3 of the main series, it tells a new story but with all the same characters (with new actors voicing them).
Stranger Things Is Being Replaced Next Year
The animated series was a hit—a second season was swiftly greenlit—but it failed to capture the magic of its live-action counterpart, and ultimately didn’t seem to resonate much with many fans. Nevertheless, the wider franchise continues to enjoy plenty of success, from the stage production The First Shadow to new tie-in media releases. There’s even a live-action spinoff in development.
But with that said, it’s fair to say that Stranger Things may have had its time in the sun. Next year, another iconic franchise—one where its characters also deal with supernatural goings-on—is getting its own 3D animated series. In fact, Stranger Things owes some of its success to this IP.
A brand-new animated Ghostbusters project titled Night Shift, a series from Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation, was announced at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Set to premiere on the streamer sometime in 2027 (a specific release date hasn’t been announced yet), Night Shift is expected to bridge the gap between the original sequel Ghostbusters II (1989) and the recent films, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024).
The official logline from Netflix reads: “New York City, 1994. Five years after the Ghostbusters took the Statue of Liberty for a walk, a new wave of supernatural terror hits the Big Apple, forcing a group of scrappy, young New Yorkers—untrained, underappreciated, and kinda sorta responsible for the problem—to put on proton packs, face their fears, and bust some ghosts.”
Early artwork shows the official logo for the new series, along with a shot of the new Ghostbusters—not only is the animation similar to Tales From ’85 but these characters are also kids—walking down a Manhattan street at sunset. Another shows a giant supernatural entity.
Night Shift will be the franchise’s third time in animated form, following The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991) and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997); however, they were made using 2D animation.
Whether Stranger Things can recapture some of its past glory remains to be seen. It’s possible the new Ghostbusters animated series will replace Tales From ’85 in a sense. After all, with Season 5 a proven disaster for many fans, and the spinoff failing to remedy that disappointment, viewers may finally be ready to see “something strange in a neighborhood” other than Hawkins.
Ghostbusters: Night Shift series will debut exclusively on Netflix sometime in 2027.
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