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Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Felipe Rangel is a Superheroes Lead Writer and Reviewer at ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021, with a focus on superhero projects. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Since the launch of the Superheroes vertical in 2023, he has focused his efforts on coming up with insightful analyses of Marvel and DC's projects.
Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics."
Eleven is coming back to Hawkins after the Stranger Things finale in a new project that will allow the franchise to fix one of season 5's biggest issues. While it has proven divisive, I was a fan of Stranger Things season 5's ending for the most part. The main characters of the Netflix show generally got positive endings.
However, Eleven's open-ended fate, which could mean death, was a shock to fans, and it was even more impactful due to how the season played out. While many of the biggest moments in Stranger Things season 5 landed, like Will's powers being revealed and Vecna's death, more smaller moments were needed, particularly with Eleven, and her return will fix that.
Eleven Will Return But Millie Bobby Brown Won't
Image via NetflixEleven's fate is left for fans to interpret, as the Netflix series' hero could either have sacrificed herself to keep her friends safe or she could be out there living alone to that same effect. According to the show's creators, the Duffer Brothers, we are unlikely to ever know if one path or the other is true.
The Duffers have said that the Stranger Things characters are not returning after season 5. However, Eleven, Nancy, Mike, Max, and more characters will be back soon in animated form. Stranger Things: Tales from '85 is a prequel series set in the winter of 1985, which puts it between Stranger Things seasons 2 and 3. As such, Eleven will be key to it.
Eleven will be voiced by Brooklyn Davey Norstedt in Stranger Things: Tales from '85.
Netflix has already released a trailer for the first Stranger Things spinoff, with the animated series set to debut in 2026, though a specific release date has yet to be announced by the streamer. Millie Bobby Brown and the rest of the Stranger Things cast will not return to voice their characters. Still, Eleven will appear, and her role makes up for a season 5 mistake.
How Eleven's Stranger Things: Tales from '85 Return Fixes A Season 5 Issue
One of the biggest problems with Stranger Things season 5 is how much time Eleven spends away from the party. Most of Millie Bobby Brown's scenes in the final season of the Netflix series are with David Harbour's Jim Hopper, Winona Ryder's Joyce Byers, and Linnea Berthelsen's Kali. El's bond with Mike deserved more screen time to make their goodbye even more emotional.
Likewise, the show barely gave any time to El's friendship with characters like Lucas, Dustin, and Will, something Stranger Things season 5 repeated once again. At least Max and Eleven got a Vecna-related plot. Even though it fit the story and was important for the characters that Hopper and El were together for most of season 5, her other relationships also deserved attention.
As such, I couldn't be more excited about Stranger Things: Tales from '85 after season 5, as the show can go back to a time when Eleven was firmly with the group, so we can get more friend interactions. With new monsters, El with the party, and gorgeous animation, Netflix's first Stranger Things spinoff sounds very exciting.
English (US) ·