The Stranger Things Broadway Play Explains That Big Will Moment

Spoilers travel for Stranger Things Season 5 and the Broadway/West End play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

We lone person 4 much episodes to spell until Stranger Things is done forever, and speculation is moving high. Who volition die? Who volition live? And however important is the series’ spin-off Broadway show, The First Shadow, to the extremity of the series? While we whitethorn not cognize the answers to the archetypal 2 questions yet, we person a beauteous bully thought astir the reply to the past one, based connected what happened successful the archetypal fractional of Season 5. The reply is “very important,” peculiarly successful explaining Will’s (Noah Schnapp) power-up, wherever Max (Sadie Sink) is hiding, and adjacent giving immoderate superior clues astir however the Hawkins pack mightiness yet bushed Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).

That’s a batch to unpack, and if you don’t unrecorded successful New York oregon London, your archetypal question mightiness be: Wait, there’s a Broadway show? There definite is, and the live-action play written by Stranger Things writer and co-executive shaper Kate Trefry is crucially tied to the wide past laid retired successful the bid and sets up a fig of crippled points successful the last season.

In the play, we drawback up with Henry Creel (aka, the kid who volition yet go Vecna) erstwhile helium and his household determination into what is aboriginal known arsenic the Creel House successful Season 4 of Stranger Things. Over the people of the play, we observe conscionable however Henry got his psychic powers, however helium met Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine connected TV), and adjacent get to spot a tiny small mentation of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown connected TV) gathering Henry for the archetypal time.

But the play doesn’t adjacent commencement with Henry. There’s really a prologue acceptable successful 1943 that depicts the United States performing experiments successful what they telephone “Dimension X,” arsenic they effort to crook submarines invisible during World War II. Unfortunately for them, they get attacked by Demogorgons, and past the enactment switches to 1959 Hawkins. Dimension X sounds similar the Upside Down, right? Well… not exactly. There’s really a batch of statement astir the quality betwixt the two, peculiarly due to the fact that neither the signifier play nor the TV amusement person been explicit astir however it each works, though franchise masterminds, the Duffer Brothers, person promised that each volition beryllium explained “pretty aboriginal on” successful the upcoming batch of episodes.

As acold arsenic we recognize now, there’s the “real” world; a spot that’s been called the Hellscape – aka the country Henry Creel was sent to betwixt dimensions wherever helium was electrocuted by lightning strikes and got existent gross looking successful Season 4; and Dimension X, which is wherever Henry met the Mind Flayer again. Meanwhile, the Upside Down is an as-yet undefined other country – either a parallel dimension, oregon a span betwixt the Hellscape and Dimension X, oregon thing other entirely.

Did we conscionable say, “met the Mind Flayer again?” This is 1 of the wildest twists successful the play, and has immense repercussions for the TV bid arsenic well. As you whitethorn callback from the archetypal batch of episodes that dropped connected Netflix for Season 5, Max Mayfield – oregon astatine slightest her caput – reappeared successful a strange, sunny world that seems to beryllium made up of Henry Creel’s memories. She’s been hiding retired successful 1 of them – a cave that Henry is intelligibly excessively terrified to enter, which is wherever Max breaks down however she’s live and what happened to her to Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher). While we don’t spot that cave successful The First Shadow, we bash hear each astir it.

Dr. Brenner’s begetter was the lone idiosyncratic to past the submarine experimentation successful 1943, passing his cognition connected to his son. Brenner the younger established thing called the Nevada Experiment, which was meant to effort and entree Dimension X, but 1 idiosyncratic went rogue, stole the equipment, and headed to – you guessed it – a cave successful Nevada. Remember the spyglass Holly was utilizing successful Season 5? That’s the aforesaid spyglass Henry utilized to research the cave system, dropping it conscionable similar Holly does erstwhile she runs distant frightened successful the TV episodes. In Henry’s case, however, helium and the rogue idiosyncratic are accidentally sent to Dimension X for 12 hours; there, Henry was infected by the carnal aboriginal known arsenic the Mind Flayer, and not lone gained his psychic powers, but was tortured, corrupted, and driven insane by the unreality creature. So alternatively than Henry creating the Mind Flayer, arsenic we’re shown successful Season 4 of the TV show, the Mind Flayer – oregon astatine slightest an facet of it that exists successful Dimension X – created Henry, and truthful Vecna.

To beryllium 100% clear: If you thought Henry had people occurring psychic abilities, you were wrong. It each comes from the corruption that happened to him implicit those 12 hours helium was missing successful Nevada, which is wherefore he’s truthful frightened of the caves. That’s wherever helium was driven insane. That’s wherever helium turned evil. That’s wherever it each went wrong.

The twists don’t halt there, though. Thanks to Henry reconnecting with Dr. Brenner successful the 2nd enactment of The First Shadow, Henry’s humor containing the corruption from the Dimension X Mind Flayer is harvested and injected into prospective mothers arsenic portion of the MKUltra programme codenamed Indigo. There are astatine slightest 10 psychically powered babies calved successful that program, including – you guessed it – Eleven.

So again, to beryllium ultra-clear – MKUltra clear, if you volition – the satellite of Stranger Things isn’t a Firestarter oregon X-Men concern wherever immoderate folks are calved people with psychic abilities. Instead, they each travel from the corruption Henry contracted successful Dimension X. This besides means that if the Mind Flayer successful Dimension X was destroyed oregon chopped off, determination would perchance beryllium nary much psychic powers connected Earth, including those utilized by Vecna and Eleven.

That said, it’s imaginable determination could beryllium inactive another twist, with Eleven being the lone exception. In the play, we’re shown a household histrion with each the programme kids branching disconnected from Henry, but Eleven, who helium meets successful the closing moments of the show. It’s imaginable that Eleven could beryllium thing antithetic than Henry and his “children...” oregon not. Who knows?

In a roundabout way, though, this besides explains however Will shockingly got powers successful the last moments of “The Sorcerer.” As we saw astatine the opening of Season 5, young Will was pumped afloat of goop during his archetypal travel to the Upside Down, connecting him to the Hive Mind that is ostensibly controlled by Vecna. But arsenic explained successful The First Shadow, Vecna’s powerfulness comes from Dimension X. Will does not person powers connected his own, due to the fact that they each – Vecna, Eleven, Will, adjacent Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) – travel from the aforesaid cardinal source. In Will’s case, helium is precise specifically drafting from Vecna’s power… but it each goes backmost to Dimension X.

There are different aspects of the play we request to discuss. When Max archetypal describes traveling done Henry’s memories, we spot a country of Hawkins High School featuring younger versions of the parents from the TV show, and the uncover of a leaflet advertizing a show of Oklahoma featuring, among others, Henry Creel. In a nutshell, that’s the main crippled of The First Shadow, pursuing a accumulation mounted by Joyce (played connected TV by Winona Ryder), starring Henry and Patty Newby, Bob’s (played connected TV by Sean Astin) sister. Henry and Patty benignant of autumn successful love, with Patty yet leaving Hawkins to find her parent successful Las Vegas, which is wherefore she hasn’t appeared connected the amusement yet. So Joyce, Hopper (played connected TV by David Harbour), and Bob (RIP) each knew Henry backmost successful precocious school, and adjacent worked connected a play with him. Will that ever get mentioned? It did look similar Joyce wanted to outcry “Henry, travel on,” successful that last series successful Season 5’s 4th occurrence earlier helium flipped her into the air.

Also perchance of note: In The First Shadow, Bob is hosting a pirate vigor amusement retired of a mobile rig helium built that helium carts astir school. Well, connected the TV series, Season 5’s 5th occurrence is titled “Shock Jock.” Though the online speculation astir the occurrence has pointed to Robin (Maya Hawke) and Steve’s (Joe Kerry) amusement connected WSQK, and the information that they pointed retired 1 could get electrocuted by the vigor operation successful the archetypal episode, is it imaginable the daze jock of the rubric isn’t either of our ’80s kids getting virtually shocked – it’s Bob Newby circa 1959? Given the consequent occurrence is titled “Escape From Camazotz,” which references a cardinal determination successful A Wrinkle successful Time and suggests Holly and Max volition effort to fly Henry’s mindscape (which is simply a full different explainer), it’s imaginable we could beryllium getting immoderate flashbacks to circumstantial events from The First Shadow successful the adjacent episode. That could decidedly found however Joyce and Hopper cognize Henry, arsenic good arsenic wherefore they haven’t brought it up yet. Regardless, this seems to beryllium excessively important a item not to bring up successful immoderate capacity, peculiarly arsenic that different highly confusing flyer was seen connected the TV series. This brings america nicely to however this full happening mightiness straight acceptable up however to bushed Vecna: They don’t.

If you’ve been paying attraction to what we’ve laid retired truthful far, astir of what’s happened connected Stranger Things isn’t Henry’s fault. He was corrupted by the Dimension X Mind Flayer, utilized and abused by Dr. Brenner, and adjacent tried to flight the power of the carnal successful the play acknowledgment to his emotion for Patty. Joyce and Hopper cognize him arsenic a weirdo, but not a atrocious 1 (at slightest not initially), and there’s each accidental this is what Max and Holly volition observe erstwhile they much afloat research his memories. Certainly it seems incredibly apt they’ll find retired what happened to Henry successful the cave successful Nevada, and observe that helium has been infected… and tin perchance beryllium cured.

There’s a moving taxable passim Stranger Things that emotion is acold much almighty than hate. That’s existent successful The First Shadow arsenic well, though successful that case, hatred – astatine slightest with Henry – yet wins. In the TV show, it’s looking progressively apt that the mode to bushed Vecna isn’t to termination him, but to bring him backmost to humanity, chopped him disconnected from Dimension X, and prevention the day. Beat him with love, not hate? That would decidedly beryllium worthy the terms of admission.