Entertainment

It’s Officially the End of an Era for Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’

Published

on

Stranger Things has been nothing short of a phenomenon since it launched a decade ago. But even considering the fact the television series has apparently come to an end, the story has been continuing in lots of different formats. A good story never truly ends, it just keeps going. But one part of the story has hit the buffers.

The critically acclaimed Stranger Things: The First Shadow has extended for a final time in both London’s West End and on Broadway. The production will complete its run at the Phoenix Theatre in London on December 27, 2026, and at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway on January 3, 2027. The show follows a young Henry Creel, soon to become the ultimate villain Vecna, who tormented our teenage heroes in Seasons 4 and 5.

The show will have run for over three years in London, after opening to five-star reviews in 2023. It went on to win Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment and Best Set Design, along with Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Set Design and Most Promising Newcomer, and the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play. On Broadway, the production became the most Tony Award-winning play of 2025, taking home four awards, including Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play, and a Special Tony Award for Illusions and Technical Effects.

Advertisement



















Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz
Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like?
Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

Princess Leia

Advertisement

🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

Advertisement

01

How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher?
The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.





Advertisement

02

What is your greatest strength in a crisis?
The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.





Advertisement

03

What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for?
Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.





Advertisement

04

How do you relate to the people around you?
Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.





Advertisement

05

You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do?
How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.





Advertisement

06

What has your heroism cost you personally?
Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.





Advertisement

07

How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in?
Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?





Advertisement

08

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going?
The answer is the most honest thing about you.





Advertisement

Your Hero Has Been Identified
Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Advertisement


Arrakis · Dune

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

Advertisement
  • You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
  • You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
  • Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
  • That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.


USS Enterprise · Star Trek

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

Advertisement
  • You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
  • Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
  • Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
  • That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.


The Rebellion · Star Wars

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.

Advertisement
  • You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
  • You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
  • Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
  • That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.


The Nostromo · Alien

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

Advertisement
  • You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
  • Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
  • You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
  • When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.


The Wasteland · Mad Max

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

Advertisement
  • You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
  • Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
  • Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
  • That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

Advertisement

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ is a Sensation

Across the West End and Broadway, nearly 1.6 million tickets have been sold, with the production playing more than 1,500 total performances. The show also marked Netflix’s first move into theatre, making it a major test case for how a streaming franchise could be expanded on stage without simply feeling like a live-action bonus episode.

Stranger Things creators and creative producers Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer reflected on the show’s success, saying:

“When the legendary Stephen Daldry first came to us with the idea of making a Stranger Things play, we were stunned — both by the fact that Stephen wanted to do this, and that he believed it could work. And boy, did it work. We remain awed by what Stephen, Kate Trefry, Justin Martin, and all the brilliant behind-the-scenes wizards were able to pull off: cinematic theater unlike anything else out there. Their incredible work drew audiences from all over — a majority of whom had never even been to a Broadway show before. We’d also like to give a standing ovation to the incredibly gifted actors who stepped into these roles — including the Tony-nominated Louis McCartney — and to the fans, who made each and every performance so memorable.”

Written by Kate Trefry, from an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne, and Trefry, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is set before the events of the Netflix series and digs deeper into the story of Henry Creel. Trefry added:

“While writing Stranger Things, we always knew there was more to the story of Henry Creel, but never imagined we would have the chance to tell it all. Being given the opportunity to dive deeper into this world through the medium of live theater has been the thrill of a lifetime, and I am still in awe of what our incredible cast and crew was able to achieve. It has been a magical, terrifying ride, and to share the communal experience of every laugh, tear, and scare with your audience is every writer’s dream. Thank you to everyone who made this dream come true.”

Advertisement

The production is directed by Stephen Daldry, with co-director Justin Martin. The creative team includes set designer Miriam Buether, costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting designer Jon Clark, sound designer Paul Arditti, composer D.J. Walde, illusions and visual effects designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, and video design and visual effects by 59 Studio.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow runs at the Phoenix Theatre in London until December 27, 2026, and at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway until January 3, 2027.


Advertisement


Advertisement

Release Date

2016 – 2025-00-00

Network
Advertisement

Netflix

Directors

Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz

Advertisement

Writers

Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Advertisement

Source link

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Trending

Exit mobile version