'Stranger Things' Reportedly Rewritten and Will Be Released Following Season 5 Backlash

The world of Stranger Things expanded significantly in the last four years with the fourth and fifth seasons of the show and the addition of the prequel stage play.

Few Netflix series reached the cultural heights of Stranger Things. When Season 4 debuted in May 2022, Volume One racked up 287 million hours viewed in its first week. Volume Two followed in July 2022, culminating in a devastating clash between the Hawkins crew and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) that left the town fractured and the Upside Down bleeding into reality.

The final season brought back Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven/Jane, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel/Vecna/One.

Terminator franchise legend Linda Hamilton also joined the cast as Dr. Kay.

But before Season 5 hit screens, another Stranger Things chapter arrived elsewhere.

When Stranger Things: The First Shadow opened in the West End, it served as a canonical prequel to the Netflix hit. Set in Hawkins in 1959, the production followed younger versions of familiar figures, including Joyce Maldonado (Isabella Pappas), Jim Hopper (Oscar Lloyd Jr.), and Bob Newby (Christopher Buckley). At its center: a troubled teenager named Henry Creel (Louis McCartney), years before he became the being known as One and later as Vecna.

The play dug deeper into Henry’s upbringing and introduced new characters who shaped his descent. Chief among them was Patty Newby, portrayed by Ella Karuna Williams. The adopted daughter of Principal Newby (Matthew Pidgeon) and sister to Bob, Patty formed a bond with Henry built on shared isolation and emotional neglect.

Over the course of the three-hour production, their connection became the emotional spine of the story. Before Dr. Brennan (Patrick Vaill) removed Henry from Hawkins to become the first subject at the laboratory, he helped Patty track down her biological mother. The revelation reframed Henry not simply as a monster in the making, but as someone capable of attachment and loss.

That relationship altered how audiences interpreted Vecna’s motives. The final moments of The First Shadow suggested that Henry remained spiritually tethered to Patty, raising the possibility that she could play a role beyond the stage. By the time Stranger Things Season 5 premiered in three parts–November 26, December 25, and December 31, 2025–speculation had swirled about whether Patty would factor into the endgame against Vecna.

Season 5 unfolded across eight feature-length episodes, which the Duffer Brothers had described as eight movies. Set in the fall of 1987, roughly a year after Season 4, the story followed Hawkins as it prepared for a last stand against the Upside Down. The fractured town, still scarred by Vecna’s assault, became the battleground for an all-out confrontation.

While Patty never appeared in the final season of Stranger Things, the fifth season reportedly has caused the creative team to rewrite The First Shadow in places.

From the Conformity Gate theory to a massively mixed reception, Season 5 of Netflix’s flagship show was incredibly divisive and a hotbed for critique. That said, it expanded on Henry Creel’s history in a way that ties the series and the prequel stage play even closer.

Stranger Things may have wrapped its run on Netflix, but the franchise continues to evolve in unexpected ways.

Recent performances of Stranger Things: The First Shadow have reportedly been updated to better match the events of Season 5, tightening the connection between the stage production and the streaming juggernaut’s final chapter.

The prequel play first opened in London’s West End in December 2023 before transferring to Broadway in April 2025. Set decades before the events in Hawkins, The First Shadow explores Henry Creel’s troubled childhood long before he transformed into Vecna.

While the Duffer Brothers previously assured fans that you “absolutely do not have to have seen the play to understand” Season 5, theatergoers quickly realized the production offered revealing context, including clues about why Vecna feared entering the cave that was prominent in the fifth season of the show.

Now, according to Stranger Things Updates on X, recent showings have quietly adjusted “some scenes and the script” to better align with Season 5’s on-screen revelations.

The account clarified that “all the changes were related to the cave and Nevada,” two key elements that played a major role in the final season. Season 5 featured flashbacks set inside Henry Creel’s fractured mind, showing how he murdered a Russian scientist and was ultimately banished to the Abyss through a mysterious artifact. Those sequences deepened the mythology and apparently required tweaks to the stage version to keep everything consistent.

The play has also reportedly revised Henry’s age at the time he vanished into the Abyss. Earlier versions suggested he disappeared as an eight-year-old Boy Scout. The updated script now places him at 11 years old, bringing the timeline in line with the Netflix canon.

The updates arrived shortly after the news that the Broadway production would be professionally recorded for release on Netflix. Filming reportedly took place from Tuesday, February 10, through Saturday, February 14, with public performances canceled during that window.

For a franchise that thrives on secrets and shifting timelines, even the stage version isn’t immune to changes. And if The First Shadow has proven anything, it’s that the story of Henry Creel is still being shaped, even after the curtain has fallen on Stranger Things itself.

While Stranger Things concluded its television run in 2025, The First Shadow continues performances at the Phoenix Theatre in London and the Marquis Theater in New York. Directed by Stephen Daldry with co-direction by Justin Martin, and written by Kate Trefry from an original story by Trefry, the Duffer Brothers, and Jack Thorne, the play cemented itself as more than a companion piece. It reshaped the franchise’s mythology.

For the next dose of Stranger Things, Tales from ’85, the animated show, will hit Netflix this April.

How do you feel about the stage play being rewritten? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!