Stranger Things: First shadow had quite a surprise in store for Friday's audience at the Marquis Theater in New York.
Jamie Campbell Bowerwho plays Henry Creel, aka Vecna, in seasons 4 and 5 of the series, made his Broadway debut replacing Louis McCartney in the show's final scene. The moment connects the live show directly to the flagship Netflix series, depicting a moment that viewers will immediately recognize from season four: Henry meeting young Eleven in the Rainbow Room at Hawkins Laboratory.
In this scene, Henry takes Eleven's hand and promises to help her. Viewers, of course, know that this plan won't quite work out the way Henry hopes, and his eventual falling out with Eleven will serve as the catalyst for the entire series. The Netflix series explains the backstory between Eleven and Henry in Season 4, Episode 7, “Hawkins Laboratory Massacre.”
The exchange served as an interesting way to wrap up the story ahead of the final installments of the Netflix series. Stranger Things 5 Volume. 2 will debut on Christmas Day, with the finale taking place a week later on New Year's Eve.
This is the only scene in the play that is taken directly from the series, as much of the show focuses on filling in some of the gaps in Henry's backstory after he moved to Hawkins in 1959.
Bye First shadow doesn't give much brand new information about Henry (playwright Kate Trefry had to walk a tight line to avoid making the final season inaccessible to Stranger Things audiences who weren't able to see the play), it does provide some useful context about what the character went through before we met him in Stranger Things 4.
The fifth season also includes several references to the play, including a scene from Vol. 1, where Max (Sadie Sink), while trapped in Henry's mind, finds himself in a flashback to Hawkins High School in 1959, as young Joyce Byers tries to promote the school's performance of the musical. Okaa Oklahoma!
McCartney has since played Henry Creel. First shadow debuted in the West End in 2023 and made its Broadway debut this year when the play opened at the Marquis Theatre.
