‘Stranger Things’: Why You Might Want to Check Out Stage Play Before Final Season

Meredith Jacobs July 5, 2023, 1:03 pm

'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' — Courtesy of Netflix

You know how you might have to watch every Marvel movie and TV show to truly understand what’s happening onscreen? Well, it sounds like Stranger Things might be taking that approach or at least be providing some fun Easter eggs for those who go to see the upcoming stage play in late 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End.

“#StrangerThingsOnStage will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and it might hold the key to what comes next…” reads the tweet from the show’s official Twitter account. What might this mean for the final season? Could there be clues we haven’t seen in the show, or perhaps just something that will allude to things in the first four seasons we should be keeping in mind? Watch the video shared along with the message below.

#StrangerThingsOnStage will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and it might hold the key to what comes next… 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3y9waLiG9j

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) July 5, 2023

This comes as the fifth and final season of Stranger Things has been delayed due to the writers strike, with creators Matt and Ross Duffer explaining on Twitter in May, “Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out. #wgastrong.”

The upcoming play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, written by Kate Trefry, goes back to Hawkins in 1959, when it was “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,” the logline teases.

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“We are beyond excited about Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” the Duffer brothers previously said when the play was announced in March. “Collaborating with the brilliant Stephen Daldry has been nothing short of inspiring, and Kate Trefry has written a play that is at turns surprising, scary, and heartfelt. You will meet endearing new characters, as well as very familiar ones, on a journey into the past that sets the groundwork for the future of Stranger Things. We’re dying to tell you more about the story but won’t – it’s more fun to discover it for yourself. Can’t wait to see you nerds in London!”

Stranger Things ended its fourth season on a major cliffhanger, with everyone reunited in Hawkins … but the Upside Down starting to break through. As the streaming service recently announced, Terminator‘s Linda Hamilton will be appearing in the final season.