Stranger Things was the definition of a cultural phenomenon for a decade as it evolved from a niche Netflix hit into one of the biggest television shows of all time. And of course, that would mean that Netflix isn’t just going to let the golden goose slip back into the upside down. The franchise has found a clever way around saying goodbye to Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max, and all of them are returning this week.
The second season takes place in the winter of 1985, with Hawkins covered in snow and the Upside Down finally in the rear view mirror. Right? Our heroes have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights, and quiet days but, wouldn’t you know it, beneath the ice, something else has awoken. Setting it around this time allows Netflix to continue filling the gap between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original series when the gang thought the gate to the Upside Down was closed, and Hawkins was returning to what constitutes normality. Naturally, Hawkins has never been particularly good at normal.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Who Stars in ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’?
Tales From ’85 features a new voice cast. Brooklyn Davey Norstedt voices Eleven, Luca Diaz plays Mike, Benjamin Plessala voices Will, Braxton Quinney plays Dustin, Elisha “EJ” Williams voices Lucas, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (In Your Dreams) plays Max, Odessa A’zion (Hellraiser) as Nikki Baxter and Jeremy Jordan (Supergirl) as Steve Harrington. The cast also includes Janeane Garofalo, Lou Diamond Phillips, Brett Gipson, Alysia Reiner, and Robert Englund, while it comes from showrunner Eric Robles (Glitch Techs), with original Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer serving as executive producers alongside Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen.
Moving to animation also allows the series to push those supernatural threats beyond what would have been practical in the live-action series. The show’s creator Ross Duffer has previously explained that, with this genre, there are effectively “no limits” to what Robles and his animation team can create.
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2 premieres September 17 exclusively on Netflix.
