Less than a year after Stranger Things wrapped up on Netflix, the streamer has announced plans (via SFFGazette.com) for a live-action prequel to The Duffer Brothers' sci-fi hit titled Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure.
While the duo will serve as co-creators, they're handing creative duties to longtime Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry. She also wrote the popular Stranger Things: The First Shadow stage play, and as showrunner, has already tapped Joe Wright (Atonement) to direct the first three episodes.
Production will take place in New Mexico, and the series is set in Marion, Nevada, during the 1950s. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the setting and time period suggest that Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure will be a UFO-inspired tale.
"We've been dreaming of Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure for many years now, and to see it become a reality is surreal and exhilarating," Matt and Ross Duffer said in a statement. "We’re so grateful to our incredible team of collaborators: our showrunner Kate Trefry, who has been in the trenches with us since season two and wrote Stranger Things: The First Shadow."
Calling Wright "a brilliant artist whose work we’ve long admired," they added, "We can’t wait for you to see what they’re cooking up. It’s Stranger Things, but also thrillingly fresh, with a new setting, new heroes and villains, and new... actually, we’re not allowed to say any more. Now, on to casting. In the meantime — watch the skies, nerds!"
Watch the skies? That's another big hint, and it seems likely the Upside Down will be mistaken for an alien invasion (this teaser even features one blasting through the sky). The Stranger Things timeline has become a little complicated, so it will be interesting to see how Other Worlds ties into the wider franchise.
Trefry, clearly excited to take charge of her own Stranger Things TV series, has also released a statement about the show's launch. "The Duffer Brothers gave me my first paying job in Hollywood, and it has been a joy and a fever dream ever since. Now, it is my insane honor and privilege to be bringing this new chapter of Stranger Things to life alongside them and our incredible director Joe Wright."
"With the support of Netflix and 21Laps, we have had the time of our lives returning to all the horror, wonder and mystery of the flagship, while also telling a wholly new story, one we hope will blow your minds and break your hearts all over again."
Check out the ominous first teaser for Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure below.