Warning! This article contains minor spoilers for Stranger Things: Tales from ’85.
Stranger Things’ newest installment fixes a power-scaling issue with the main show by making Eleven an official superhero. In the five seasons of Stranger Things, there is no denying that Eleven was the main powerhouse of the Hawkins crew in their battle against Vecna. Stranger Things season 5’s ending proved as much, with Eleven facing off against both Vecna and his monstrous Mind Flayer ally.
That said, the Duffer Brothers did have the tendency to be frustratingly inconsistent in its depiction of Eleven’s powers in Stranger Things. At some points, Eleven was committing insane feats, from throwing a helicopter to the ground in season 4 to flying and facing down Vecna several times in season 5. However, only moments before or after, she was shown to struggle with much smaller things.
In Stranger Things season 5, for instance, Eleven seemed to have to push herself when lifting one of the silver grates blocking the rift to the Upside Down. Moreover, when Eleven showcased her powers on a bigger scale, she would always bleed from her nose or eyes and be tired very quickly immediately after.
Despite being Stranger Things’ superhero, the show failed to keep her powers consistent, both in the usage of them and steadily increasing what she was capable of. Finally, though, thanks to Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, the show’s first spin-off, Eleven becomes an official superhero in key ways.
Stranger Things’ Spin-Off Makes Eleven’s Powers Much Stronger & More Consistent
Eleven and Mike in Netflix’s Stranger Things: Tales From ’85.
In the animated spin-off of Stranger Things, Eleven’s powers are much stronger and, more importantly, more consistent. She is shown battling new Upside Down creatures constantly, sometimes back-to-back, across all 10 episodes of Tales from ’85. She rarely gets tired when doing so, showing a much more consistent level of power than the main show provided her with.
From a strength perspective, she is doing things she rarely does in the original show. In one scene, she uses her powers to catch herself as she falls to the ground. In others, she rips giant trees out of the ground and throws them through buildings. She is also shown using huge boulders as weapons, as well as turning the vine-like limbs of her enemies against them.
All of this makes Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’s action sequences involving Eleven much more dynamic than they tended to be in the original show. In this sense, due to how often and consistently powerful her powers are, Eleven is more of a fully-fledged superhero in Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 than she ever was in the live-action show.
Eleven Benefits From Stranger Things: Tales from ’85’s Animated Medium
Eleven levitating in front of a Gate in Stranger Things Tales from 85
Admittedly, one of the aspects of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 that allows this is its animated medium. In animation, huge scale action sequences are simply easier to plan out and produce. Of course, there are timing and budget constraints in animation, too, but there are less practical restrictions on what is possible.
Eleven using trees and boulders to fight with, for example, will need extensive CGI work in live-action, which may not always be possible to produce as consistently as it would be in animation. This is why many of Eleven’s strongest feats in Stranger Things are spread out as huge, climactic moments, rather than consistently part of the show like they are in Tales from ’85.
Also, the animated nature of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 makes it less restricted by canon. The main show focused more on fights with Vecna and his minions than different hordes of creatures, as is the case in the animated spin-off. All of this means that Eleven’s character benefitted massively from the animated, less-restrictive nature of Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, which makes her a true superhero.
Release Date
April 23, 2026
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Eric Robles
Directors
Phil Allora
Writers
Jennifer Muro
Brooklyn Davey Norstedt
Eleven
Odessa A’zion
Nikki Baxter