Following the end of Stranger Things on Netflix, the franchise is set to expand with the animated spinoff series, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. A new trailer has been released for the upcoming show, and A Nightmare on Elm Street fans may spot a familiar figure hiding in the background.
The trailer reveals a look at Nikki Baxter (Odessa A’zion), a new character in Hawkins who joins the familiar characters from the Netflix series to take on the creatures from the Upside Down. At one point in the trailer, Nikki tells the gang that they’re going to need some gear, at which point she opens up a garage door. Inside, there’s plenty to see, and as the moment goes by quickly, it’s easy for viewers to miss an Easter egg for A Nightmare on Elm Street.
When the garage door is open, a cardboard standee of Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger can be seen towards the left side of the screen. The standee is positioned behind a sofa, standing in front of some posters and vinyl records on the wall. It’s the kind of promo that filmgoers would typically find at a local movie theater to promote new releases, so it’s clear that Nikki is a big fan of A Nightmare on Elm Street. This is also something that any fan of 80s horror would greatly appreciate.
Take a look at the Easter egg below, with Freddy holding up his razor-clawed glove on the left.
There’s another connection to A Nightmare on Elm Street in Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, voices a character in the animated show. Englund previously played Victor Creel in the live-action Stranger Things, but he takes on a new role in the animated spinoff, voicing a character named Cosmo.
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THe official logline for the animated series reads,”Return to Hawkins with Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, an exciting new animated series from showrunner Eric Robles and executive producers the Duffer Brothers. In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading. Our heroes Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights, and quiet days. But beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened. Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely? Our heroes must race to solve this mystery and save Hawkins in this new story set in the Stranger Things universe.”
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 will premiere on Netflix on April 23, 2026.
