Netflix to Film STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW on Broadway for Future Streaming Release

Netflix is officially bringing Broadway into the Upside Down.

The streaming giant is filming the Broadway production of STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW this week, with plans to release the stage event for global audiences at a later date. While no premiere timeline has been confirmed, the capture is designed to preserve the original Broadway cast before their departure from the production on March 29.

The play, currently running at the Marquis Theatre, cancelled performances from February 10 through February 14 to accommodate filming. Public performances resume on February 15.

The original Broadway cast is led by Tony nominee Louis McCartney as Henry Creel, the character who would later become the series’ infamous villain Vecna. McCartney first originated the role in London before transferring with the production to New York.

Following the March cast change, Victor de Paula Rocha will take over as Henry Creel, joined by Ayana Cymone as Patty Newby, Shea Grant as Joyce Maldonado, Juan Carlos as Bob Newby and Matthew Erick White as James Hopper Jr.

The Broadway production opened on April 22, 2025, after premiering in London in December 2023. Since the release of the final season of STRANGER THINGS on Netflix, the stage prequel has experienced renewed box office momentum, recently grossing $1.4 million in a single week and ranking among Broadway’s top earning shows.

Written by STRANGER THINGS writer Kate Trefry, the play serves as a canonical prequel to the Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things. Set in 1959, the story explores the teenage years of familiar Hawkins characters while charting the origin story of Henry Creel and his emerging supernatural abilities. The narrative connects directly to events across seasons one through four and extends into revelations linked to the fifth and final season.

“It’s totally canon,” Trefry previously explained. “It’s totally tied into the series with seasons one through four, but also reaching into the future with season five. It had to be this missing puzzle piece that connects all of these different things.”

The production is directed by Stephen Daldry, with co direction by Justin Martin. Known for its cinematic staging and technical wizardry, the play blends large scale spectacle with psychological horror, translating the show’s supernatural tension into live theatre through illusion, choreography and practical effects.

Netflix’s involvement as both producer and distributor signals a growing convergence between stage and streaming. The company previously documented the development process in the behind the scenes film Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which debuted earlier this year. Filming the full Broadway production suggests an expanded strategy to preserve and monetise theatrical events for global subscribers.

For international audiences, including fans in Australia who may not have immediate access to Broadway, the filmed release could provide unprecedented access to one of the most technically ambitious stage adaptations in recent memory.

While Broadway purists sometimes debate the impact of filmed theatre on ticket sales, the commercial rebound following the show’s final season tie ins suggests that screen and stage are fuelling each other rather than competing.

With the original cast’s run concluding in late March, this filmed capture ensures that the first Broadway incarnation of STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW will live on beyond Hawkins and Times Square, ready to stream into living rooms worldwide.