Stranger Things play airing on Netflix answers Vecna's connection to Hawkins characters

Stranger Things may have concluded, but that doesn't mean we're done with the world of Hawkins – as the sequel play The First Shadow is now heading to Netflix.

The news was broke earlier this week by Collider, who revealed that a string of performances for the Broadway production were cancelled in order to make way for filming.

LADbible has since reached out to Netflix who've confirmed the exciting news to be true, which means fans who weren't able to travel to London or New York will finally be able to see the production.

So what happens in Stranger Things: The First Shadow and how does the plot change the main series?

What happens in Stranger Things: The First Shadow?

The First Shadow explores the childhood of Henry Creel, how he obtains his powers and becomes the monster we later know as Vecna.

The play dives deeper into Vecna's connection to Hawkins and characters such as Joyce and Hopper (Netflix)

Of course, the finale series touches on Vecna's backstory, season five episode Escape from Camazotz reveals how the contents of a briefcase changed the trajectory of Henry's life forever, while Max's journey through Vecna's memories revealed that he was a student at Hawkins High school at the same time as Joyce, Hopper and the Wheeler parents.

However, the play goes a step further in setting up the villain's origin, cementing his connection to Hawkins and its' characters in a way the series never did.

How is Henry Creel/Vecna linked to the Stranger Things adults?

The First Shadow gives a deeper context to Max's memories of Henry's high school years, revealing he was a close friend of Patty Newby - the adopted sister of Joyce's S2 boyfriend Bob Newby - and a fan of getting malted milkshakes at Melvalds, aka the Easter egg which triggered the infamous conformity gate frenzy.

The play adds further context to this scene which all fans may not be aware of (Netflix)

What's more is that Henry also came into direct contact with a young Joyce and Hopper throughout the play, revealing that both characters had an established relationship with the man who would later terrorise their loved ones.

Joyce casts Henry as the lead in her play Oklahoma - which is later revealed to be Dark of the Moon - while Hopper clocks that he may be behind the pets which are strangely turning up dead across Hawkins.

Despite Henry's relationships with several Hawkins' families being a driving force of the play, it's a plot point which is widely glossed over in the series.

The Duffer brothers have acknowledged that Hopper and Joyce likely put the pieces together and released that Vecna was Henry off-screen, a comment which frustrated a lot of Stranger Things fans.

The play also explains how Henry/Vecna and Dr Brenner cross paths (Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for Netflix)

The decision to make the play available on streaming platforms after the finale has also divided fans, especially as it provides a deeper context to the events of season five and how the abyss came to be.

"This should have been done before Season 5 released given how many connections there were," wrote one fan in reaction to the news on Reddit, while other fans appeared surprised to learn that Henry had crossed paths with several of the Hawkins older generation.

"It still baffles me that they actively hid lore and vital information in a Broadway play that such a small percentage of the audience would ever be able to see," a second person wrote in response to the news.