Netflix Drops Teaser for ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’

Netflix is producing a prequel to Stranger Things, but it’s not going to be a movie or a series you can watch on the streaming platform. It’s going to be a stage play. And with less than two weeks to go until the premiere, Netflix has finally released a teaser.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is based on an original story by series creators the Duffer brothers along with Jack Thorne and Kate Trefry; Trefry is credited as the writer with Stephen Daldry (whose film credits include Billy Elliot and The Reader) and Justin Martin slated to co-direct. The Duffer brothers will serve as creative producers with Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions co-producing.

The creatives have confirmed that the play will be canon, in contrast to the spinoff books that were previously published and de-canonized by season 4.

Where is Stranger Things: The First Shadow premiering?

The play will be premiering at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End on November 17, 2023. Tickets are now available, though November’s shows are already sold out.

There’s no news yet as to if or when the show will be making its way across the pond for Broadway or touring in the U.S.

What is the Stranger Things prequel about?

The plot given thus far is as follows:

“Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.”

Stranger Things: The First Shadow | Phoenix Theatre, London (strangerthingsonstage.com)

Basically, it sounds like a teen drama that may or may not lead into the events of the next season by showing if/how Hopper and Joyce knew Henry Creel personally. Though Henry was at least five years younger than Joyce and Hopper, so it’s hard to say what their dynamic will be like.

New information also seems to indicate some kind of relationship between Henry Creel and Patty Newby, Bob Newby’s sister. Considering Patty is a character who hasn’t been seen or even alluded to in Stranger Things, this is certainly intriguing.

Who will star in the Stranger Things play?

Variety has now revealed the cast for the play. The cast seems to feature many characters we already know, including Hopper, Joyce, Bob Newby, the Creel family, and the parents of the future Hawkins kids, though there are also some new names to round them out.

The production will star Shane Attwooll (Chief Hopper), Kemi Awoderu (Sue Anderson), Chase Brown (Lonnie Byers), Christopher Buckley (Bob Newby), Ammar Duffus (Charles Sinclair), Gilles Geary (Ted Wheeler), Florence Guy (Karen Childress), Max Harwood (Allen Munson), Michael Jibson (Victor Creel), Oscar Lloyd (James Hopper, Jr.), Louis McCartney (Henry Creel), Isabella Pappas (Joyce Maldonado), Matthew Pidgeon (Father Newby), Calum Ross (Walter Henderson), Maisie Norma Seaton (Claudia Henderson), Patrick Vaill (Dr. Brenner), Lauren Ward (Virginia Creel) and Ella Karuna Williams (Patty Newby).

Additional cast members include Tricia Adele-Turner, Lauren Arney, Reya-Nyomi Brown, Patricia Castro, Lydia Fraser, Isaac Gryn, Mark Hammersley, Tom Peters, Kingdom Sibanda, Tiana Simone, Danny Sykes and Meesha Turner.

Will the Stranger Things prequel stream on Netflix?

We don’t yet know if or when Netflix will be producing a pro-shot of the play, but I imagine they have plans for that eventually, considering the success of Hamilton: An American Musical on Disney+.

(featured image: Netflix)