Stranger Things: Tales From '85 Spinoff Story Is Based On A 'Loophole' In The Main Series

"Stranger Things" may be over, but Netflix has figured out a way to keep this franchise around for the foreseeable future through the upcoming "Stranger Things: Tales From '85." The animated series seems poised to pick up the baton from the Duffer Brothers' original output. However, as Ross and Matt Duffer have gone to great lengths to ensure that the spin-off fits neatly alongside its live-action predecessor, the entire concept is based on a "loophole" in the main series.

According to an Entertainment Weekly exclusive, the animated project is to be set between the second and third seasons. Since the Duffer Brothers insisted that it had to take place sometime after Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) sealed the gateway into the Upside Down, showrunner Eric Robles — veteran of animated efforts like "Glitch Techs" — had to work to make everything fit. "I dissected the show, looking for any loopholes. I found a few of 'em," Robles revealed. "And then I found this one idea that I was just like, 'Oh s***! I think that's it.'"

With fans hanging on every word coming out of any "Stranger Things" producer's mouth these days, the creative team has quite a task in front of them.

While Robles chose not to reveal the big idea that sparked "Stranger Things: Tales From '85," he was content to merely hint at some unexplored corner of the larger franchise. Just as the fifth season connects directly to "The First Shadow" stage play, the animated project has a spiritual link to the events of the flagship drama, mainly through the Hawkins National Laboratory.

As for the plot of the animated spin-off? "Hawkins Lab science meets Upside Down matter," Robles teased. The Hawkins Lab is ground zero for so many eventful early moments in "Stranger Things," and the shadowy science at the heart of the location is believed (especially at the time that "Tales From '85" takes place) to be the source of Eleven's powers.

As we first learned in one of TV's most pointless storylines, El isn't the only person (or thing) who was experimented on in the lab. It appears that we have yet another mystery on deck for the spin-off series, one that we'll learn soon enough when the series premieres later this year.