Picture: Manuel Harlan
Stranger Things: The First Shadow has been playing for a few months, and we thought we’d cover some of the major revelations that have emerged from the play and how it expands and fleshes out the Stranger Things universe.
In case you didn’t know, Stranger Things: The First Shadow serves as a prequel to the events of the main series. That main season, which kicked off in 2016, began in 1983, with the most recent season taking place in 1986. The play itself rewinds the clock back to 1959, which was covered in season 3 via flashbacks for the Creel family.
Warning: This contains major spoilers for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is currently playing at the Phoenix Theater in London with a likely planned global rollout. I wholeheartedly recommend trying your best to get tickets to this and see it in person. It’s an incredible experience, and even if you do not like theater (like me), you’ll get so much enjoyment out of this.
Thanks to the Stranger Things Fandom Wiki for assisting with key details for this article.
One final warning – please don’t read this if you want to see the play in person. That said, Netflix teased that this play “may hold the key to the end,” so you should familiarize yourself with the story before season 5 launches.
Stranger Things Story Really Begins in 1943 and is how that connects to Dr. Brenner.
Illustration of the USS Eldridge being made invisible. This experiment is alleged to have taken place in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania, USA, on 28th October 1943.
The play itself kicks off with a scene on a ship that’s part of the alleged Philadelphia Experiment that took place midway through the Second World War. It’s one of the biggest conspiracy theories in human history, but as it relates to Stranger Things lore, the plot ultimately opens when the USS Eldridge attempts their experiment to turn their vessel invisible; they accidentally open a portal to Dimension X (also known as The Upside Down).
The vessel’s crew (with one exception) were all lost after being transported due to coming into contact with a Demogorgon.
Although unrelated to Stranger Things, we’d recommend reading more about the actual vessel and the conspiracy theory surrounding it. A great starting point if you want to read more on the Philadelphia Experiment can be found on Wikipedia.
Brenner’s father was the crew member who survived the Philadelphia Experiment. Martin Brenner is told about the experiment and where the crew went by his father on his deathbed.
How Henry Kreel / Vecna Got His Powers
Louis McCartney (Henry Creel) – photo by Manuel Harlan
In the main show, it’s never really explored how Henry got his powers (or curse, if you will) in the first place. During one of his meetings with Dr. Brenner in the play, it’s revealed that while living in Rachel, Nevada, he went missing for a period of time (around 12 hours). While missing, Henry explored a cave system and came across a scientist in possession of scientific equipment that was stolen from the institute where Dr. Brenner was working at the time, hoping to recreate the effects of the aforementioned Philadelphia Experiment.
That equipment transported Henry and the scientist to Dimension X, where he first interacted with the mind flayer who corrupted his blood and personality, granting him his psychokinetic abilities. The scientist he was transported with perished.
His blood, as we later come to know, was then transfused into the children’s blood at the Hawkins National Laboratory, such as Eleven, to give them the abilities.
Henry Creel wasn’t always bad and had a romantic relationship while at school
Louis McCartney (Henry Creel), Ella Karuna Williams (Patty Newby) – photo by Manuel Harlan
The thrust of the story is actually about Henry and his time in High School following moving with his family to Hawkins and battling his growing hunger for power.
While at school, he interacts with Joyce, Bob, and Hopper primarily through the production of the school play. Also, there, he befriends Patty Newby, the daughter of Principal Newby and the adoptive sister of Bob Newby.
Throughout The First Shadow, Henry and Patty grow close, leading Henry to reveal his powers to her. Following this, Patty enlists Henry’s help in finding her biological mother. However, their search is interrupted by Vecna’s emergence. Despite this challenge, Henry ultimately triumphs in the mental battle, ensuring Patty’s safety but does suggest that he has some good in him as he truly does care for her.
Wait, doesn’t some of this contradict the show’s telling of events for Henry Creel? Yes, it does. While some have called it a retconning of events, creatives involved with the show do have an answer for this.
One contradiction, for example, is that Henry says he only met the Mind Flayer and entered the upside down much later in life. That’s clearly not the case, according to The First Shadow.
In an interview with SFX Magazine (available to read online here via Readly), Kate Trefry, who wrote the play alongside Jack Thorne and the Duffer Brothers, explained that the Creel origin story presented in the show itself may not be reliable because Henry is telling it. “The play is a different perspective,” Trefry told SFX, adding, “We’re reaching back into Henry’s past to understand why he is the way he is.”
We’ll no doubt have more to say about the story of The First Shadow in the months to come, but those are the three biggest revelations that add to the overall story of Stranger Things.
Netflix Synopsis: "When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl."
