Performances from the full original Broadway cast will be captured before they depart the production
Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman/Netflix
NEED TO KNOW
- Netflix is filming the Broadway play Stranger Things: The First Shadow for a future streaming release
- The play, a prequel to the series, explores Henry Creel’s backstory and ties directly to season 5
- Since opening, the production has been a box office hit, winning four Tony Awards
Looks like Stranger Things fans are getting that bonus episode they were dreaming of, after all.
PEOPLE has learned that Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions are filming the Broadway production of Stranger Things: The First Shadow this week for future streaming release.
The play — which debuted to New York audiences in March 2025 after a successful run in London — is a prequel to the hit Netflix series following a young Henry Creel, the boy who would go on to become the show's ultimate villain, Vecna (played on screen by Jamie Campbell Bower).
It was was heavily referenced in the show's fifth and final season, though fans who couldn't make it to the theater had been missing a piece of the puzzle.
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Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Now, they'll get the complete picture — though it's not necessarily clear when. The filmed version is intended for a future release, PEOPLE has learned, but no timeline or additional details have been announced.
To accommodate filming, the production has canceled one week of performances, from Tuesday, Feb. 10 through Saturday, Feb. 14. Public performances are set to resume Feb. 15.
The timing is right. The full original Broadway cast — led by Tony Award nominee Louis McCartney, who stars as Henry Creel — are scheduled to depart the production on March 29.
A new Year Two company will take over beginning Tuesday, March 31, led by Victor de Paula Rocha as Henry Creel. He'll be joined by Ayana Cymone as Patty Newby, Shea Grant as Joyce Maldonado, Juan Carlos as Bob Newby, newcomer Matthew Erick White as James Hopper, Jr., and a complete cast expected to be announced shortly.
Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman
Stranger Things: The First Shadow officially opened at the Marquis Theatre on April 22, 2025, and went on to win four 2025 Tony Awards — more than any other play last season.
It's been a box office smash, too, especially after the release of the final season of the Netflix show. The production has regularly ranked among Broadway’s top weekly grossers, most recently bringing in $1.4 million.
Kate Trefry wrote and conceived the play along with Stranger Things creators, directors and executive producers the Duffer Brothers, as well as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child scribe Jack Thorne. Three-time Tony winner Stephen Daldry directs Trefry’s script with Justin Martin.
The action is set in 1959, 24 years before TV show begins. It explains how the supernatural happenings in Hawkins, Indiana, began, show how evil took root there long before Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) opened the gate.
Trefry previously told PEOPLE why the story of The First Shadow was "cannon" to the Stranger Things lure.
"It had to be," she said," explaining that she was writing the play at the same time she was working on season 5. " It was like a Rubik's Cube to try to figure out how to make all these gigantic, complicated pieces work together and make sense!"
"Season 5 has so much to do with Henry Creel. The play and season 5 are kind of a couplet. They're part of the same story," she added. "I'm excited for everyone to finally see the whole picture."
Tickets for Stranger Things: The First Shadow are now on sale.
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