- Stranger Things: The First Shadow is being filmed this week
- This teases a Netflix debut for the play sometime soon
- It could be crucial to understand the next chapter in the series
Stranger Things season 5 might have wrapped up the main series, but Netflix isn’t done with this fan-favorite franchise, it seems, as yet another spinoff is reportedly coming to the streaming platform: The First Shadow.
This prequel story set in the Stranger Things universe has already graced stages in the UK’s West End and US’ Broadway, but according to The Hollywood Reported a recorded version of the play will be available on Netflix at some point later this year – and if you’re a fan of the series, this is a recording I’d highly recommend watching.
Especially before watching the other Stranger Things prequel the Duffer brothers teased – one which will reveal how that strange rock in season 5 gave Henry Creel his powers and where it came from.
While The First Shadow wasn’t required watching for the main series, I suspect it might be much more essential to that upcoming project.
**Light spoilers follow for The First Shadow**
Stranger Things: The First Shadow predominantly follows the time Henry Creel spent in Hawkins in 1959 – a time after his powers manifested, but before he truly became Vecna.
We’ve seen snippets of this in the Netflix show with Henry’s backstory in Season 4 – when we see him torment his family – and then in Season 5 – when Max explores Henry’s memories of Hawkins High School.
The stage play expands on this backstory with a cast of recognizable faces in the form of the party’s parents, as well as a motley crew of young Joyce, Hopper, and Bob who take on a familiar investigative role, looking into the strange animal killings taking place in the town.
I was lucky enough to be in one of the original production’s first audiences – I bought tickets for one of its earliest previews, which took place ahead of the official opening night – and I adored it.
A fine blend of familiar yet fresh, The First Shadow presents an interesting alternate perspective on Henry Creel’s villainous nature – while not making him appear saintly – and at the same time dodging the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s spinoff faults. It wasn’t required watching for the main series, while also not feeling like a completely independent side-story that simply uses the Stranger Things branding to elevate its pop-culture status.
It did expand my understanding of elements of the show’s wider world – I knew what that weird cult-like stage performance was from Henry’s memories, which Max explored, and had a better grasp of Henry’s relationship with the Mind Flayer – but you could have just as easily enjoyed Season 5 without it.
You can enjoy The First Shadow as both its own thing and as a piece of the whole, and when it launches on Netflix, I’d recommend tuning in – I know I will, even though I’ve already watched it once before.
But you’ll notice I said the show “predominantly” follows Henry’s Hawkins life, and it’s the few scenes that buck this trend which I believe will be essential for understanding the next Stranger Things spinoff.
**Okay, I’m going to fully spoil The First Shadow prologue here, and discuss a scene we saw in both play and Season 5 of the show**
Into The Abyss
Henry Creel’s forceful exile to The Abyss (the home of the Mindflayer) at the hands of Eleven wasn’t the first time characters from Stranger Things found themselves in the hellscape – the first known instance of a visit there was in fact in 1943.
As depicted in the stageplay’s intro, we see the USS Eldridge and its crew transported to The Abyss when an experiment to turn their ship invisible goes awry. Subsequently, most of the crew perish at the hands of various humanoid monsters: Demogorgons.
One member of the crew survived, however, and was able to return to Earth: the ship’s captain, Dr. Brenner’s (a.k.a. Papa’s) father.
Genetically altered by his visit – such as developing a unique blood type – Brenner’s father kept the truth a secret, only revealing the true story of what happened on his deathbed to his son. Brenner, inspired by this story, decided to replicate the effects of the Eldridge’s experiment in Nevada.
It’s unclear precisely what transpired in Nevada, but the stage play reveals that one of the new experiment’s scientists defected and became a Soviet Union spy at some point during this time. The spy would then steal a key piece of technology and hide in a cave until he is discovered by Henry Creel.
Season 5 watchers know the rest. The technology, that strange rock, activated and gave Henry his monstrous powers.
Based on the Duffer brothers’ comments, it sounds like an upcoming spinoff show will focus on Dr. Brenner’s Nevada experiment and on the impact of the Eldridge’s Abyss discovery.
As such, it makes perfect sense that The First Shadow should be added to Netflix. Not simply so that a wider audience can enjoy the play – not everyone can live near London or New York – but also because details it explores will likely be expanded upon by the franchise in an upcoming series.
We don’t yet know when the play will make its streaming debut, but with filming taking place this week, I expect we won’t be waiting too long before we can enjoy this excellent show from home.
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