Netflix has released an official featurette for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, its upcoming stage play that serves as a prequel to the hit sci-fi horror drama Stranger Things.
In the featurette — which coincides with Stranger Things Day — series creators Matt and Ross Duffer discuss how exactly the idea for a Stranger Things prequel play came about. The video also introduces fans to actors like Oscar Lloyd, Isabella Pappas, Michael Jibson, and Louis McCartney — who play younger versions of Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers (née Maldonado), Victor Creel, and Henry Creel, respectively. A major new character featured in the play is Patty Newby, played by Ella Karuna Williams.
Check out the behind-the-scenes featurette for Stranger Things: The First Shadow below:
What is Stranger Things: The First Shadow about?
“Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy … and the shadows of the past have a very long reach,” an official synopsis for Stranger Things: The First Shadow reads. “Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story — and may hold the key to the end.”
The play is helmed by directors Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin. The First Shadow comes as Stranger Things itself gears up for its fifth and final season on Netflix. Production was expected to begin earlier this year, though was delayed due to the Hollywood strikes. Nevertheless, The First Shadow is hardly the only spin-off project the Duffer brothers and company have in store. An animated series set within the world of Stranger Things is in development at Netflix, as is a live-action spin-off series.
Stranger Things Seasons 1-4 are currently streaming on Netflix.
