As part of Stranger Things Day and the first day of Geeked Week, Netflix revealed a new featurette (which you can watch here) for its upcoming stage play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow. The footage has Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers previewing the plot of the play, including one detail that we just couldn’t help but take notice of.
We’ll break it all down below, but fair warning: potential spoiler for Stranger Things: The First Shadow below, as well as spoilers for Stranger Things the show through Season 4.
To give you a quick TLDR: The First Shadow, we've learned, will feature something of a high school romance story between Henry Creel (who eventually becomes One, who eventually becomes Vecna) and Patty Newby, the sister of the fan-favorite Season 2 character Bob Newby (played by Sean Astin in the series).
But, to move backwards and quickly recap what we already knew: Netflix previously announced that The First Shadow would be a Stranger Things prequel, taking place in Hawkins, Indiana in 1959. We also knew it would feature fan-favorite characters like Joyce, Hopper, and Bob as Henry Creel arrives to town. If you’re caught up on Season 4, you know that Henry is a key part in the lore of the Upside Down and Hawkins.
In the featurette, the Duffers tease that “like every Stranger Things story, there’s a new really important character, which is in this case Patty Newby.”
“The main thrust of the story is Patty and her little budding romance with Henry,” says Kate Tefry, a staff writer on Stranger Things who also wrote The First Shadow. Producer Sonia Friedman adds that it’s “also the origin story of how Henry Creel became Number One.”
“It’s the origin of Stranger Things,” says Patrick Vaill, who’s playing a younger version of Dr. Brenner in The First Shadow. “It’s the origin of the Upside Down.”
If you’re wondering why we care about this, it could put yet another tragic spin on the story of Bob Newby, whose death was already a tough one to watch in Season 2. Astin’s Bob stole the hearts of fans in his sweet romance with Joyce (Winona Ryder) – making it one of the most brutal losses of the series when he was mauled by creatures from the Upside Down after ensuring that Joyce, Will, and Hopper could make it out of the Hawkins lab in time.
As mentioned, we learned in Season 4 that Henry Creel/One/Vecna has a massive connection to the Upside Down. We don’t know all the details of Vecna’s powers yet but he can, at the very least, tap into the Upside Down’s hive mind to send out its creatures to do his bidding, while also feeding on the consciousnesses of the victims there.
In short: Bob Newby is basically the victim of his sister’s high school fling. It alllll comes together in the end, doesn’t it? Plus, Netflix has long teased that The First Shadow “might hold the key” to what comes next in Season 5. So, hey, maybe I’m onto something.
Louis McCartney will step into the shoes of young Henry Creel, while Shane Attwooll, Isabella Pappas, and Christopher Buckley will play Hopper, Joyce, and Bob respectively.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow debuts in London’s Phoenix Theater on Nov. 17. And it might be the only Stranger Things we get for awhile, as the fifth and final season remains on hold amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
