TL;DR
Stranger Things: The First Shadow earned $2.5 million in one week, breaking Broadway’s Marquis Theatre box office record. The surge happened during Stranger Things Season 5’s Netflix debut.
As someone who’s been tracking every corner of the Stranger Things universe since the series began, I need to talk about the elephant in the room: Stranger Things: The First Shadow just broke the Marquis Theatre’s box office record with a staggering $2,510,948 gross for the week ending December 28, 2025. This makes it one of the most financially successful plays on Broadway right now. Yet the harsh reality is that the vast majority of Stranger Things fans will never experience this “essential” piece of the franchise’s mythology.​
The Numbers Are Absolutely Staggering
Let me put this financial success in perspective. The play grossed over $2.5 million across just nine performances during the Christmas week, operating at 100% capacity with an average ticket price of $173. This wasn’t a fluke—the production broke the nine-performance house record specifically at the Marquis Theatre, a venue that’s hosted massive Broadway hits for decades.​
The timing of this record-breaking week is no coincidence. It occurred immediately after Stranger Things Season 5 volumes dropped on Netflix during Thanksgiving and Christmas 2025, with the finale premiering on New Year’s Eve. The Broadway production saw “demand across both the Broadway and West End productions reach their highest levels since the initial launch,” with fans booking tickets not just for the holiday weeks but well into 2026.​
Industry insiders noted that the play “was doing lackluster business all year until” the TV series finale approached. Once Netflix released the final episodes, suddenly everyone wanted to understand Vecna’s origin story—which the play reveals in crucial detail.​
Why This Creates an Impossible Situation for Fans
Here’s my frustration as both a Stranger Things analyst and a fan advocate: this play isn’t just entertainment—it’s canonical backstory that directly impacts your understanding of the main series. The First Shadow tells the origin story of Henry Creel/Vecna, set in November 1959 in Hawkins, Indiana. It explores how Henry first encountered the Upside Down, reveals Dr. Brenner’s father’s connection to interdimensional experiments, and shows the mysterious cave and strange rock that became plot points in Season 5.
As one reviewer noted, by the show’s conclusion “Henry finds himself ensnared in a malevolent government laboratory, suggesting that this is the very birthplace of ‘The First Shadow'”. This isn’t supplemental material—it’s foundational mythology that the TV series references but doesn’t fully explain.
Yet accessing this crucial narrative requires being in one of two cities on Earth: New York or London. Tickets start at $62 on discount platforms but average $173 per seat. For a nearly three-hour show with a recommended age of 12+, you’re looking at a significant financial and logistical commitment.​
The Geographic and Financial Barriers Are Real
Even if you live in New York or can afford to travel there, getting tickets isn’t guaranteed. The show runs Tuesday through Sunday with limited showtimes—typically one evening performance weekdays and matinee plus evening on weekends. The production features a cast of 34 actors and elaborate special effects that one reviewer described as “amazing”.​
From my research, I’ve found that the Marquis Theatre has wheelchair and mobility seating with movable armrests in the Orchestra and Mezzanine sections, plus accessible restrooms and audio description devices. But even with these accommodations, the fundamental accessibility problem remains: this is a Broadway-exclusive experience in a franchise with a global fanbase of hundreds of millions.
What Bothers Me Most
Having followed the Stranger Things franchise’s expansion into novels, comics, mobile games, and VR experiences, I find the Broadway exclusivity particularly frustrating. The play opened on Broadway on April 22, 2025, after a successful West End run that began in late 2023. It won multiple Tony Awards and was described as “the most Tony Award-winning play of the year”.​
Yet there’s been no announcement of a filmed version, touring production, or any plan to make this “essential” backstory accessible to the millions of fans who can’t get to New York or London. The Duffer Brothers, Netflix, and Sonia Friedman Productions created something based on “an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne, and Kate Trefry” that’s “rooted in the mythology and world of the Netflix global phenomenon” —then made it available to less than 1% of the fanbase.
The Irony of Franchise Expansion
What’s particularly galling is that this play was created specifically to expand the Stranger Things universe and provide crucial backstory. One Vogue reviewer admitted that even after watching the show, they “felt somewhat overwhelmed by the intricate lore, the world-building, and the inside references” because they were “relatively new to the Stranger Things universe”.​
If dedicated theater critics attending Broadway shows struggle with the lore density, imagine how fans who’ve watched every episode of the series feel knowing there’s a three-hour canonical prequel they’ll likely never see. The play explores questions like “Are monsters born… or made?” and shows how “a wave of shocking crimes” in 1959 Hawkins forced teenage Henry Creel to “confront a terrifying truth” about himself.
These aren’t trivial details—they’re the foundation of the series’ primary antagonist.
What Should Happen (But Probably Won’t)
From my perspective as someone who advocates for accessible fan experiences, the solution is obvious: Netflix should film a high-quality capture of The First Shadow and release it on their platform. The West End production of Hamilton was filmed and released on Disney+, proving that Broadway hits can successfully transition to streaming while still maintaining their theatrical integrity.
The fact that The First Shadow made $2.5 million in one week proves there’s massive demand. But that success also highlights the problem—the play is making money precisely because it’s exclusive and scarce. Broadway producers have little financial incentive to democratize access when they’re selling out at $173 average ticket prices.​
Until Netflix, the Duffer Brothers, or the producers prioritize accessibility over exclusivity, the vast majority of Stranger Things fans will remain locked out of crucial canonical content. And that, frankly, is a betrayal of the global fanbase that made this franchise successful enough to warrant a $2.5 million box office week in the first place.
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