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STRANGER THINGS THE FIRST SHADOW BREAKDOWN! Every Connection from the Play to Season 5!

New Rockstars

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New Rockstars breaks down the Stranger Things play — The First Shadow — to explain the big connections in Season 5! PDF Spaces in Adobe Acrobat Studio is radical. Check out our custom PDF Space with all our thoughts on Stranger Things to try it for yourself! https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/spaces...

Stranger Things The First Shadow was a major stage production that opened in London in December 2023 and in New York on April 2025, with major connections to the final season of Stranger Things. Erik Voss breaks down the Broadway production that opened in 2025, and how it was changed from the previous West End version. What new things does the Stranger Things play reveal about the Mind Flayer, Henry Creel’s origins, and how the heroes of Stranger Things will ultimately defeat Vecna and survive?

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Written by: Erik Voss
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20 Comments

@NewRockstars Creator 9 months ago Pinned

Check out our custom PDF Space with all our thoughts on Stranger Things to catch up, dive deeper, and draw your own nerdy conclusions on the final season. Just click this link: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/spaces/urn:aaid:sc:US:47f17f3f-d4fe-4b2e-a952-710957614dbe?sdid=T6SQLDTC&mv=social&mv2=owned-influencer

@ytuser_3122 9 months ago

Netflix should’ve released this play between Season 4 and 5 as this play seems to be super essential to the series

@Jay_Saw8 9 months ago

Netflix is failing every stranger things fan by not recording the play for a special presentation on Netflix

@CrossOutBryce 9 months ago

This should've been recorded and put out on Netflix between S4 and S5. This sounds WAY too essential

@jeroen1989 9 months ago

Oh, let me take the plane round the world to visit a play to fully understand the series I am watching at home...

@pleidastaurus5908 9 months ago

The main issue with Henry’s backstory is that Joyce and Hopper never say anything about remembering him from school. It’s a weird plot hole

@garretthildebrandt428 8 months ago

Y’know… as much as I love theater… this should’ve been a spin off prequel.

@chantelchapman4875 9 months ago

So many of their parents and adults already knew about the weird crap in Hawkins it it never occurred to them to think about it?!

@Deuszada 9 months ago

Damn I felt like this was on 1.5x.

@michele.marshall 9 months ago

Imagine how the Broadway audience lost their minds on 12/19/25 when JCB made a guest appearance as adult Henry in the play. Outstanding!

@crispybitss 9 months ago

I wish I never knew that they wrote the cursed child.

@agostinor23 9 months ago

So this play changes the lore and introduces a bunch of plot holes while trying to just use all the fan favorites and “Easter egg” characters….. yup it’s got cursed child written all over it

@erikvonriese 9 months ago

“Ted Wheeler was a himbo” is a hilarious lore drop.

@Ruthissa_01 9 months ago

It’s a dick move to make things that happen in the play cannon when there’s no universal access to it.

@torymcclintick8028 9 months ago

I feel like the reason the duffers said this play want required viewing is because vecna is gonna have a big monologue explaining what happens in the whole play

@rachelkompsi7531 9 months ago

Netflix really should have put the play on for all to see before season 5! It's very unfair to the fans not to!

@BernieMacscousin 9 months ago (edited)

The fact there's people online that think this was planned from the start is crazy to me. They most likely came up with all these ideas within the last 2-3 years. First of all, in the flashbacks of season 4, Henry appears to be wayyy younger than high school age. Then with his family being aware of his powers it doesn't explain Victor Creel assuming it was a demon that murdered his family and not his violent son with psychic powers? Also unless vecna wiped their memory, why haven't Joyce or Hopper brought up that they knew Henry?

@UncleGeorge90 9 months ago

I think vecna can move through time but only on November 6th. 🤔

@Luneytoon 9 months ago

Honeslty, im even more confused now

@purpleturtle98 9 months ago

My thing is, as soon as ANYTHING weird started happening in Hawkins why wouldn’t any of them have even a theory of what’s going on? Like they’ve now seen all these murders happen whether people or pets in HIGH SCHOOL and you’re telling me Joyce, hopper, and even bob was like nooo this is completely normal there’s no such thing as anything like that? Like why wouldn’t they be like “oh no it’s happening again” like what?? This play makes no sense and creates so many plot holes and how “important” it’s becoming for season 5 just feels like a cash grab. This was very much not planned out. It’s just frustrating and reals disrespectful to the fans who have been around for the last decade.