'Stranger Things' play 'The First Shadow' to feature Vecna's love story

Stranger Things creators, The Duffer brothers, are dishing on their latest project for the Stranger Things universe, a play named The First Shadow.

The brothers sat down with The Guardian to spill the beans on the creation of the play that will revolve around Henry Creel, aka Vecna’s past. The play will also feature younger versions of Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour in the show), Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), Bob Newby (Sean Astin).

The main focus of the play is set to be Creel’s (played on stage by Louis McCartney) romantic involvement with a new character named Patty Newby ( Ella Karuna Williams). “Exploring what, if any, humanity Henry had before he went full-blown, you know, Darth Vader,” said Matt Duffer.

On the character of Patty, Ross Duffer explained, “Usually in a Stranger Things season, we introduce someone new to the world and for us it’s helpful in that it’s like a new pair of eyes for the audience to experience this world through. So Patty is following in those footsteps. The goal is that you have a much better understanding of Henry when seeing this and see a little bit more of how he got to where he is.”

Ross even went on to reveal how the play connects to Stranger Things season 5, saying, “And then there’s a bit in the play that is starting to hint at where we’re headed with the final season of the show. That was always the balancing act.”

Directed by Stephen Daldry of The Crown, the play will transfer to Broadway it does well initially. Stranger Things: The First Shadow is set to debut before Stranger Things season five drops on Netflix in 2025.