The Stranger Things universe is expanding as Netflix has just announced a partnership with Penguin Random House to publish a series of books based on the acclaimed series. One such book, set for publication next spring, will be a prequel novel filling in the backstory about Eleven’s mother Terry and the MKUltra program written by Girl on a Wire YA author Gwenda Bond.
One of the most acclaimed series to premiere on Netflix, the second season of the Duffer Brothers-created Stranger Things was released on Halloween last year and filled in some of the backstory of fan favorite character Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), including her relationship to her biological mother Terry (Aimee Mullins) and the existence of other children experimented on. While Terry was in a vegetative state in the show, unaware of her surroundings, she was still able to communicate with Eleven through telepathy.
As reported by Deadline, and confirmed by Bond on her Twitter, the prequel novel will be “about Eleven’s mother Terry and her intersections with the MKUltra program and you’re going to get to know and love her in a whole new way.” The novel will be preceded by the release of a behind-the-scenes companion book and a hardcover gift book this fall, which will feature “advice, wisdom, and warnings from the the Stranger Things world.” Further releases, presumably geared more towards expanding the universe, are expected later in 2019.
Bond had initially made a name for herself with a series of young adult novels focusing on two separate girls navigating life in an American circus in Girl on a Wire and Girl in the Shadows. But her biggest series is arguable the Lois Lane trilogy (Fallout, Double Down, Triple Threat) that serves as prequel stories to the famous Superman character, tracking her pre-Clark Kent life in Metropolis as a high schooler. These acclaimed YA novels suggest Bond’s ability to craft interesting individualized prequel stories within a pre-existing IP, making her a perfect fit for the Stranger Things universe
While little is known about the upcoming season 3 of Stranger Things, the show is expected to return sometime early 2019. Millie Bobby Brown has already teased that the new season will be a “coming of age story” for Eleven, and the show has also added Francesca Reale as Heather, a popular lifeguard at the Hawkins community pool. Additionally, Cary Elwes and Jake Busey have been added to the cast as the mayor and a journalist in Hawkins, respectively.
Stranger Things season 3 will debut on Netflix sometime in 2019.