‘Stranger Things’ Creators Return To Netflix Next Month With New Sci-Fi Series

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By

Denis Kimathi

Published Apr 20, 2026, 7:15 PM EDT

Denis is a news writer for Collider with close to five years of experience in the industry. He has analyzed shows across different genres, formats and styles. His favorite types of articles to write are exciting news updates and episodic deep-dives. He might say he doesn't have a favorite show, but he has watched The Wire, Shameless, The Big Bang Theory, and The Blacklist more than once. Denis is increasingly becoming focused on the global streaming arena and how media connects with audiences in various markets. Find him on X tweeting about something random that occurred to him about a TV show or the industry in general.

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With the conclusion of Netflix's hit sci-fi drama Stranger Things_ early this year, the streamer is yet to deliver another major hit as subscribers wait for new seasons of 3 Body Problem and Eternaut. However, a major project is lined up and is set to debut on May 21. The Boroughs, as the new show is called, is the spiritual successor to Stranger Things, exploring similar themes in a different setting. The series is also executive-produced by The Duffer Brothers, who were the masterminds behind Stranger Things.

The Boroughs takes after Stranger Things in more ways than one. It is set in a relatively secluded town and follows a band of misfits who run into mysteries and try to solve them. But instead of preteens and teens in Indiana, The Boroughs is set in New Mexico and follows senior citizens in a retirement home. Cast members include Alfred Molina (Sam), Geena Davis (Renee), Alfre Woodard (Judy), Clarke Peters (Art), Denis O'Hare (Wally), and Bill Pullman (Jack), among others. The series is infused with dark humor as the residents reckon with this stage of their lives while exploring new discoveries. Its official synopsis below explains:

** "In the sun-drenched expanse of the New Mexico desert lies The Boroughs, a picturesque retirement community promising its residents the time of their lives. But for new arrival Sam Cooper, paradise feels more like a prison. Everything changes when a terrifying nighttime encounter reveals that something monstrous is stalking the manicured cul-de-sacs. Dismissed by the powers that be as just another confused old man, Sam finds unlikely allies in a band of neighborhood misfits: a sharp-witted former journalist, a spiritual seeker, a cynical music manager, and a brilliant doctor running out of options. Overlooked and underestimated, these unlikely heroes must band together to unravel the dark truth at the heart of The Boroughs before their time runs out."

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COLLIDER Collider · Quiz

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

TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →

QUESTION 1 / 8INSTINCT

01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.

APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 2 / 8RESOURCE

02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.

AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 3 / 8THREAT

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.

AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 4 / 8AUTHORITY

04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.

ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 5 / 8ENVIRONMENT

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.

AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 6 / 8ALLIANCE

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.

AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 7 / 8MORALITY

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.

AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.

NEXT QUESTION →

QUESTION 8 / 8PURPOSE

08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.

AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot.

REVEAL MY WORLD →

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.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Stranger Things' Returns in 3 Days

Meanwhile, Stranger Things fans return to Hawkins on April 23 when Stranger Things: Tales from '85** premieres. The animated series is set in the winter of 1985 and follows familiar heroes, but with different voice actors. "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," the show's official synopsis teases. While the medium and characters are a bit different for both shows, they promise the same mysterious intrigue that The Duffer Brothers have become known for.

Stream The Boroughs when the eight-episode season is released on May 21. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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The Boroughs

**

Like

Follow

Followed

Drama

Mystery

Supernatural

Sci-Fi

Release Date**

May 21, 2026

Network

Netflix

Directors

Augustine Frizzell, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Ben Taylor

Cast

See All_

Alfred Molina

Sam

Geena Davis

Renee

Alfre Woodard

Judy

Denis O'Hare

Wally

Creator(s)

Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews

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