Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ Spinoff Just Hit Its Lowest Rotten Tomatoes Score Yet

Animated spinoffs of beloved live-action franchises tend to walk a tricky tightrope, needing to honor what made the original work while justifying their own existence as something more than a cash-in. Netflix’s “Stranger Things” universe has been navigating that exact challenge since its animated offshoot first premiered back in April.

That premiere didn’t exactly set the world on fire critically, with “Tales From ’85” debuting to a middling reception that left plenty of longtime fans divided on whether the format suited Hawkins’ mythology at all. Season 2 had a real opportunity to course-correct those early concerns.

Instead, “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85” Season 2 has debuted with a 50% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews, marking the lowest-rated season in the entire “Stranger Things” franchise’s history. That figure edges out even the spinoff’s own first season, which landed at 61% with critics and 52% with audiences, making this the first outright “rotten” score the franchise has ever received.

For context, every previous mainline season of “Stranger Things” scored well above the fresh threshold, with Season 1 topping the chart at 97% and even the divisive fifth and final season still managing an 83% critics’ score. That steep drop-off for the animated spinoff’s sophomore outing stands in sharp contrast to a franchise that has otherwise maintained consistently strong critical reception throughout its live-action run.

Early reviews for Season 2 echo many of the same criticisms leveled at the first season. ScreenRant’s Matthew Rudoy gave the new season a 4 out of 10, writing that while there are fun moments and plenty of action, the show still suffers from a lack of character development, noticeable pacing issues, and an overall feeling of retreading ground the franchise has already covered extensively.

CBR’s Katie Doll offered a similarly lukewarm 4 out of 10 review, suggesting the spinoff may be a sign that Netflix isn’t entirely sure what to do with the “Stranger Things” universe anymore. Other reviews have pointed to the season leaning too heavily on introducing new monsters and chase sequences at the expense of meaningful time spent developing its characters and their relationships.

Check out the Season 2 trailer for #StrangerThings: Tales From '85

Premiering September 17 on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/Or0n5e40aK

— Rotten Tomatoes 🍅 (@RottenTomatoes) August 29, 2026

Set in Hawkins during the winter of 1985, between the events of Season 2 and Season 3 of the flagship series, “Tales From ’85” follows the original characters as they confront new supernatural threats tied to the Upside Down. The series comes from executive producers Dan Cohen, Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, and Shawn Levy, with Eric Robles serving as creator and showrunner.

With fewer than 50 user ratings recorded so far, the season doesn’t yet have an official audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, though early critical consensus suggests it hasn’t managed to win over skeptics from the first installment. Given that even the franchise’s most divisive live-action season still cleared 80% with critics, this animated spinoff’s struggles point to a format that may simply need more time to find its footing, or a franchise that could benefit from stepping away from Hawkins for a while.

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