The Upside Down is getting yet another McDonald’s tie-in, but this time it’s actually landing in the US, so fans don’t have to watch the fun from across the border.
The chain teamed up with Netflix on a Happy Meal built around Stranger Things: Tales from ’85, the animated spinoff that dropped its full 10-episode season on the streaming platform on April 23.
The promotion’s got quite the straightforward (yet very chaotic) premise. Monsters (but of course!) have overrun Hawkins and have taken over the town’s McDonald’s, enter Dustin and the rest of the Hawkins Investigators Club, needing rescuing. That’s where kids with Happy Meals show up as reinforcements.
Inside the box
The Happy Meal features a Tales from ’85 themed box, a collectible character toy, an activity book, and a QR code that pulls up an interactive game where you fight off the monsters. The toy rotation includes a dozen collectible toys, with two new characters added weekly.
McDonald’s said in a statement that the collaboration has been a long time coming for Matt and Ross Duffer, the brothers who created the show. They called it a lifelong dream.
Stores will start serving the Happy Meal on Tuesday, May 5.
A season of pop-culture crossovers
Stranger Things isn’t McDonald’s only recent fandom play. Its Happy Meal for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026), is already in stores, and is running on more or less the same formula. A dozen collectible figures, each a different character, each on a posable clip.
“Clip Mario to your backpack, pin Princess Peach to your purse or let Yoshi dangle from your keyring — now’s the perfect time to grab this season’s must-have accessory,” McDonald’s wrote on its Menu Spotter page (its official hub for new menu announcements).
The collection pulls characters from throughout Mario’s history. Among the dozen toys are classics like Birdo (debuting in 1988’s Super Mario Bros. 2), Bowser, Toad, and Yoshi, alongside modern takes such as Bowser Jr. (in both his standard form and the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Wonder variant), Luigi in the Frog Suit, Fire Flower Mario, Luma, Rosalina, and Princess Peach.
A QR code on the box also unlocks a digital adventure with Mario and new faces from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026), according to the chain.
Sources: Netflix, McDonald’s, People