Englund will voice a minor role in “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85.”

Robert Englund returns to Stranger Things with animated role — and a Freddy Krueger Easter egg

Englund will voice a minor role in "Stranger Things: Tales from ’85."

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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March 26, 2026 11:00 a.m. ET

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Robert Englund as Victor Creel in 'Stranger Things' season 4. Credit:

- Robert Englund returns to the world of *Stranger Things* for animated spinoff *Tales from ’85*.

- Englund played older Victor Creel in season 4 of the mothership show.

- The horror icon will now play Cosmo, and a new trailer reveals a major Freddy Krueger Easter egg.

Robert Englund is back in the *Stranger Things* universe.

After playing Victor Creel, the father of Henry Creel/One/Vecna, on the live-action mothership show, the horror icon returns to voice an animated role in *Stranger Things: Tales from ’85*. The news comes as Netflix's new cartoon spinoff debuts a full-length trailer, which gives a proper lay of the land.

Englund will feature in a minor role, named Cosmo. Character details are scarce at the moment and he does not appear in Thursday's trailer. What *does* feature in the preview, however, is a prominent Freddy Krueger Easter egg.

'Stranger Things: Tales from ’85' features a Freddy Krueger Easter egg.

Odessa A’zion (*I Love LA*) plays Nikki Baxter, a pink-haired, punk-rock transfer student who arrives in Hawkins. As the protector of the group — or the barbarian, in *Dungeons & Dragons* speak — Nikki welcomes the teens into her garage crash pad. It includes all sorts of DIY weapons, neon-pink lights, band posters, and one life-sized Freddy Krueger cut-out that pays homage to Englund's most famous role from the *Nightmare on Elm Street* movies.

Englund appeared in season 4 of *Stranger Things*, portraying Victor Creel in his older years. The Creel patriarch was locked away in Pennhurst psychiatric hospital after he was blamed for the murders of his wife and daughter in the 1950s. Spoiler! It was really his son, Henry, who did the killing.

What to know about the 'Stranger Things' spinoff 'Tales From '85': Voice cast, timeline, and more

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That story, glimpsed in flashbacks on the show, plays out more prominently in the West End and Broadway productions of stage play *Stranger Things: The First Shadow*.

Englund joins a *Tales from ’85* cast that includes Brooklyn Davey Norstedt as Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport as Max, Luca Diaz as Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney as Dustin, Ben Plessala as Will, Brett Gipson as Hopper, Jeremy Jordan as Steve, Janeane Garofalo as Anna Baxter, Lou Diamond Phillips as Daniel Fischer, Alysia Reiner as Karen Wheeler, Alessandra Antonelli as Nancy Wheeler, Valeria Rodriguez as Rosario, and Jack Griffo as Jeff.

Englund gets his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 31, 2025.

Eric Charbonneau/Warner Bros. via Getty

*Tales from '85* takes place between the events of *Stranger Things* seasons 2 and 3, during the winter of 1985. The portal to the Upside Down is closed, but something terrible awakens from beneath the ice.

Showrunner Eric Robles teased the big mystery and these new creatures, which take center stage in the trailer. "I dissected [*Stranger Things*], looking for any loopholes. I found a few of 'em," he previously told **. "And then I found this one idea that I was just like, 'Oh s---! I think that's it.'"

This one idea, he continued, was "Hawkins Lab science meets Upside Down matter... There's a chain reaction to the creatures that are in our world and the things that are popping up."

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Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of *Stranger Things*, are involved in *Tales from ’85* as executive producers while they continue development of a live-action spinoff.

"It's got its bite to it," Robles said. "The stakes are real for the kids. It's not *Scooby-Doo*, man. It's not like, 'Oh, well, it'll be fine.' We don't know if it'll be fine."

The first two installments of the 10-episode half-hour series will premiere early in select movie theaters for one day only on April 18. The show will then properly debut on Netflix April 23.

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