Only a small percentage of Stranger Things‘ fans have had the chance to go to London’s West End to see the prequel play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow. However, the show may prove to have some valuable intel ahead of the fifth and final season. Jamie Campbell Bower, the actor who plays Henry Creel/Vecna on the series, found watching the play to be a very useful experience to learn more about his character.
“It’s been really interesting… to have the play on in London, which I went to go and see, which goes back to Henry before we met him in season four,” Bower told The Hollywood Reporter. “And to have a lot of the questions or a lot of the thoughts that I had about that character kind of answered by watching the play and also discover more, was really interesting for me.”
The play is set in Hawkins in 1959, when Henry was just a teenager. It primarily explores how Henry was first touched by the Upside Down. The First Shadow also features younger versions of Joyce Byers, Jim Hopper, and even Bob Newby as it sets the stage for the events that are still unfolding in Stranger Things.
Bower indicated that Stranger Things Season 5 is still being filmed, and he also hyped up the show’s final chapter.
“If you thought last season was nuts, this season is just out of control, wild, like it’s bonkers,” said Bower. “It really, really is. It’s bigger. It’s just completely insane.”
Stranger Things Season 5 will premiere on Netflix in 2025.
