Tales From ’85’ Recasting Eleven Could Be a Bad Move

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Stranger Things finale!Regardless of how it’s interpreted, Stranger Things‘ final episode, “The Rightside Up,” saw Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven reach the end of her arc. Sure, one interpretation is a little more optimistic than the other, but Eleven’s story is over either way. However, the character is officially making a return to screens in 2026. While this will excite and relieve many Stranger Things fans, Eleven’s comeback could actually end up doing more harm than good.

Stranger Things creators and showrunners, the Duffer Brothers, ended the Netflix show in a way that strongly implied Eleven’s death. Her passing was a much more solid event before Mike (Finn Wolfhard) shared his theory about how Eleven might have survived the Upside Down’s destruction, but now it’s pretty much up to the viewer to decide whether she made it or not. Her return to the franchise later this year won’t canonize either version of events, but it may hurt the beloved character in other ways.

Eleven’s 2026 ‘Stranger Things’ Comeback Is Way Too Soon

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is an upcoming animated series that’ll be part of the main canon, adding new adventures between Seasons 2 and 3 of the original show. So, the core characters will be shown back together almost immediately after they were all separated in Season 5’s emotional finale. For Stranger Things to take Eleven away from fans as it did and then quickly bring her back in a prequel, very arguably reduces the impact of recent events.

There’s undoubtedly a thirst for more from the Stranger Things universe. Still, fleshing out the timeline in this way so soon after Eleven’s exit doesn’t give viewers enough time to sit and think about the 9-year journey they just went on with Brown’s character and her friends. It’s understandable that Netflix wants to keep the buzz going while Stranger Things is still a cultural phenomenon, but even waiting until 2027 would probably still have renewed interest to a very similar level.

There’s Another Reason Eleven’s ‘Stranger Things’ Comeback Might Hurt the Character

Eleven is Millie Bobby Brown’s seminal role. It’s tough to imagine anyone else bringing the character to life, but that’s just what Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is setting up to happen. Although the animated show will replicate Brown’s appearance from the appropriate era, Eleven won’t be voiced by the original actress. Instead, the role is being inherited by Brooklyn Davy Norstedt. All the other main characters will also be voiced by new actors.

While it’s unclear whether Norstedt has been cast to do a stellar Millie Bobby Brown impression or if she’s going to put her own stamp on the role, it’ll still be weird having someone else’s voice leaving Eleven’s mouth. The dissonance of seeing a familiar face and hearing another voice could make the character seem too different from what fans are used to, creating distance between the audience and the “new” version of Eleven. Speaking more broadly, the animated show’s writers will need to be very careful not to add to Eleven’s story in ways that are too significant. Otherwise, it could be confusing when certain events that happen in Tales From ’85 were never even referenced in Stranger Things.