Does the supervillain Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) retain a weakness tied to the human he once was? Why can’t he enter the cave where Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) is hiding? And will Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) force him to confront the past he has long buried? These crucial questions remain unanswered in Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5, which premiered on Netflix on 27 November. They will likely be addressed in Volume 2, which will hit the streamer on Christmas. But, is the groundwork for these answers laid in a stage play?
Stranger Things: The First Shadow, currently running at NYC’s Marquis theatre, is more than just a companion piece to the popular Duffer brothers-created sci-fi show. It provides essential clues about Vecna’s past that feeds directly into the show’s canon.
Set in 1959 in Hawkins, Indiana, The First Shadow takes place 24 years before the events of Season 1. The play reveals how Henry Creel (later known as Vecna) acquired his psychokinetic abilities.
Before moving to Hawkins, the Creels lived in Nevada near a military base conducting covert experiments on parallel universes in the early 1940s.
According to the stage prequel, the US government attempted a secret experiment on the USS Eldridge, intending to hide the ship from German detection. Instead, it was transported to Dimension X, where most of the crew were murdered by mysterious monsters. One of the few survivors was Matthew Modine’s Dr. Martin Brenner, aka dad, who would later imprison Eleven and the other children in Hawkins Lab in the Netflix show.
Brenner returned from Dimension X carrying a strange new blood type, which prompted him to recreate the otherworldly conditions he had endured there.
Brenner’s efforts were disrupted by a Russian spy on his team, who stole critical technology and hid it in the Nevada desert — the same area where Henry Creel was living with his family.
During this period, an eight-year-old Henry stumbled into a cave near the base and was inadvertently teleported to Dimension X, the Upside-Down-like realm to which Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) later banished him in Season 4 of the Netflix series. Though gone for only 12 hours, Henry was irrevocably altered when he returned from the alternate dimension. The Mind Flayer, a malevolent entity from the Upside Down, had reshaped him, even changing his blood type, and set him on a path of violence and torment.
Directed by Stephen Daldry, ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ reveals how Vecna acquired his psychokinetic abilities (https://broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com)
The Creels soon relocated to Hawkins after the incident. Though Henry struggled to make friends at Hawkins High, he formed an unexpected bond with Patty Newby, the principal’s daughter. Patty insisted that his abilities need not be evil, encouraging him to control and use them for good.
However, Henry was soon overwhelmed by a shadowy presence he called “the battlefield”. Terrified that he might be forced to kill Patty, he continued to fight the entity’s growing influence on him, until it made him kill his mother and sister, with his father Victor Creel being convicted of the crimes. Henry surrendered to the dark forces twisting his mind, joined Brenner at the lab and eventually became the formidable villain now known as Vecna.
Crucially, the play reveals that Dimension X is where Henry first encountered the Mind Flayer and that the creature pre-dates him. Far from being its creator, Henry was one of its earliest victims. During those missing hours, the Mind Flayer tormented and possessed him, granting him psychokinetic powers rooted in malevolence.
'Stranger Things: The First Shadow', the stage prequel to Netflix’s popular sci-fi series, reveals that Henry (later known as Vecna) was one of the first victims of the Mind Flayer, a shadowy entity from the Upside Down (https://broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com)
This traumatic past puts Vecna’s present-day terror of caves, or at least one particular cave, in perspective.
In Season 5, Holly is kidnapped by a Demogorgon and taken into the Upside Down. There Vecna, disguised as Mr. Whatsit, appears to Holly as a helpful friend, who warns her not to stray into the woods where the monsters lurk.
However, Holly’s curiosity gets the better of her when she discovers a letter, seemingly from Mr. Whatsit, urging her to come to the woods. While in the woods, Holly comes across Max, who is still trapped inside Vecna's memories though her body lies comatose in hospital.
Max then hides with Holly in the cave Vecna cannot bring himself to enter. She admits she doesn’t know why he fears it.
Stranger Things co-creator Matt Duffer recently confirmed to US-based entertainment news website Variety that the cave which Vecna fears entering is the same one where he was first transported to Dimension X as a child. "You’ll see, especially as you reach the final episode, there’s more overlap with the play," Duffer added.
Though the exact reason behind Vecna’s fear is not yet known, fans of the show have come forward with different speculations. Perhaps, he believes that the cave will strip him of his powers. Or perhaps, it represents the last fragile shard of humanity within him — a reminder of the simple boy he was before the Mind Flayer claimed and corrupted him.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is written by series staff writer Kate Trefry, with the play's story conceived by Trefry, the Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorne. Directed by Stephen Daldry, the play made its debut at London's Phoenix Theatre in late 2023, followed by an additional New York production in 2025.
Starring Louis McCartney, Isabella Pappas, Oscar Lloyd and Patrick Vaill, the play made its debut at London's Phoenix Theatre in late 2023, followed by an additional New York production (https://broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com)
The cast of the stage production includes Louis McCartney as Henry Creel, Oscar Lloyd as James Hopper Jr, Isabella Pappas as Joyce Maldonado, Christopher Buckley as Bob Newby, Patrick Vaill as Dr. Brenner, Ella Karuna Williams as Patty Newby, and Michael Jibson as Victor Creel.
In April this year, Netflix released a documentary about the play’s creation. Titled Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things The First Shadow, it is available to stream on the platform.