Stranger Things has become quite the waiting game for fans. It felt like a lifetime with the filming of the last season of the Netflix show, with all the quarantine holdups and COVID-19 production restrictions. They began laying the groundwork for the upcoming and final season a whole year back, only to have it come crashing down with the strike. And to top it off, dealing with the actors' exploding careers has turned scheduling into a complete madhouse. 

While fans are dying for the final chapter to unfold in Hawkins, a play inspired by the show has quietly wrapped up its final rehearsals. Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel to the Netflix original, recently dropped its trailer, which was shared by the executive producer of the parent show, Shawn Levy. Levy took to X and teased, "It’s not real. Or IS it?". He added, "Stranger Things: The First Shadow live on stage at the Phoenix Theater, London". 

The trailer teased the backstory of the main antagonist from the show, Henry Creel, a newbie in town who eventually morphs into Vecna, whom fans saw in Stranger Things season 4. It was penned by Kate Trefry from a tale by Trefry, the Duffer Brothers, and Jack Thorne. The Duffer brothers also doubled as creative producers, while 21 Laps Entertainment chipped in as producers alongside Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions.

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The trailer and the tantalizing hints it dropped totally blew fans’ minds, and they flooded X with their love, along with a bunch of questions. 

As per Netflix's announcement last year, Stranger Things: The First Shadow will be intertwined with the mythology and universe of the Netflix show However, it is still unclear whether the streaming giant will roll out promotional materials for a stage production that has not announced any intentions for a filmed rendition yet. Many fans have raised queries and voiced a desire for Netflix to feature the play on its platform.

Many fans also asked Shawn Levy if he is getting ready to direct soon for the fifth season, especially since it has been hinted that the Deadpool & Wolverine creator will take the helm for a "later episode".

Meanwhile, there were those who simply could not contain their excitement for the play after getting teased by the “UNREAL” trailer.

As for the release of Stranger Things season 5, fans hoping to return to Hawkins for the Christmas period will have to make do with some other holiday binge. The post-production process is taking its sweet time, so it looks like fans will have to wait until at least summer 2025 to dive back into the Stranger Things universe.

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What do you think about the Stranger Things: The First Shadow trailer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!