'Stranger Things' play opening this year

And promising HBO drama embroiled in scandal

What to know

• Stranger Things stage play to open in London later this year… Surprise! Stranger Things: The First Shadow is bowing much sooner than expected. Written by series scribe Kate Trefry based an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne, and Trefry, First Shadow is a prequel series featuring young Hopper, Joyce, and Henry Creel. *DUN DUN DUN*. Here’s the teaser synopsis:
  
  “Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.”
  
  The press release also teases that this origin story “may hold the key to the end,” — so hopefully Netflix releases the script as WB did with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This is all great, and I will definitely buy a ticket if and when it comes to Broadway. I’m sure the special effects are going to be spectacular. My only concern is how a prequel will fit in with the already established canon. I trust them not to break the continuity, but things can get thorny fast (just look at Obi-Wan). 🙃

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