Jamie Campbell Bower As Henry Creel In Stranger Things In The Rainbow RoomImage via Netflix
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Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories.
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things, Season 5, Vol. 1Stranger Things has officially returned for its fifth and final season, and once again, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) continues to terrorize the people of Hawkins, Indiana. For his latest plan, Vecna abducts a group of children from Hawkins and locks them away in his dreamworld – dubbed Camazotz by Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) after Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. His goal is to use the children as power vessels for the Upside Down, but in the process, Holly stumbles across Max (Sadie Sink) in Camazotz.
Max has been in a coma for the past 18 months, but in Camazotz, she's been reliving a combination of her own memories and those of Henry Creel while trying to find a way to escape. Season 4 gave the basic backstory of Henry Creel, with the reveal that he killed his family, was Experiment 001 in Dr. Brenner's (Matthew Modine) lab, and has since become the supervillain who rules the Upside Down. In Season 5, Volume 1, Max tells Holly about her exploration of Henry's memories, hinting at more to his backstory that ties directly to the Stranger Things prequel play, The First Shadow.
'Stranger Things' Prequel 'The First Shadow' Reveals That Henry Creel Isn't the True Villain
Louis McCartney (Henry Creel), Ella Karuna Williams (Patty Newby) holding hands in Stranger Things: The First ShadowImage via Netflix
The First Shadow is a prequel play about Henry Creel's high school years that also reveals the origins of the powers that Henry Creel, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and Brenner's other experiments now have. During World War II, the United States government accidentally sent one of its military ships to a place called Dimension X in an experiment gone wrong. Brenner's father was on the ship and survived this, but he came out of it with a new blood type. Many years later, Dr. Brenner created a new version of this experiment in a cave in Nevada, where a young Henry Creel went exploring one day while his family was living there. Henry then wound up in Dimension X, where he was first exposed to the Mind Flayer, and where he left with the same unique blood type as Brenner's father.
Throughout The First Shadow, Henry (Louis McCartney) tries to fight against his terrifying powers and his connection to the Mind Flayer in order to live a normal life in Hawkins. He falls in love with fellow Hawkins High student Patty Newby (Gabrielle Nevaeh), who isn't afraid of his powers, and who encourages him to stop being ashamed and afraid of his differences. Henry also attends high school with a young Joyce Byers, née Maldonado (Alison Jaye), James (before he went by Jim) Hopper Jr. (Burke Swanson), and Bob Newby (Juan Carlos), who investigate some strange animal deaths in Hawkins without yet knowing about the supernatural happenings behind it all. In spite of his best efforts to fight off the Mind Flayer, Henry is ultimately possessed and then brought to Brenner's lab as experiment 001, leading him on the path towards becoming Vecna.
'Stranger Things' Season 5 Sets Up the Reveal of Henry Creel's Experience in the Cave
In Season 5, Episode 4, "The Sorcerer," Max tells Holly about everything that she's discovers while trapped in Camazotz. In her time there, she stumbles upon many of Henry's memories, which took her to his high school, where a young Joyce was putting on Oklahoma, and Henry was the star. She also winds up in Brenner's lab on the day that a possessed Henry killed most of the occupants there. A desperate Max runs from Henry and winds up at a cave, where he suddenly stops and refuses to keep following her. Max realizes that Henry is terrified of this cave, although she doesn't know why. Max uses this to her advantage and creates a home for herself in the cave, knowing that Henry will never be able to reach her there.
It seems as though this backstory is going to be revealed in its entirety in the upcoming Season 5, Episode 6, "Escape From Camazotz," which is written by The First Shadow's writer, Kate Trefry. The First Shadow may give a general description of what happened in the cave, but there's still more to learn about Henry's experience there, and about how much he remembers. Henry Creel himself is not the actual villain, though, contrary to popular belief. The Mind Flayer seems to be the one who is really in control, and Henry is just one more person who has been possessed by it. Stranger Things has already proven that nobody is safe from possession by the Mind Flayer, from the cruelest people, like Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), to the kindest, like Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). As such, based on The First Shadow, it seems like most of the real Henry Creel has been lost in the creation of Vecna.
Before The First Shadow and the reveal in "The Sorcerer" that these events would come into play in the show, it seemed as though the endgame of Stranger Things would be about killing Vecna. Vecna is just an embodiment of the Mind Flayer's possession of Henry Creel, so it's most likely the Stranger Things finale will see the partyface off against the Mind Flayer once again. As for Henry Creel, his backstory from The First Shadow is already devastating, but the true reveal of what happened in that cave and everything that he is still hiding in his mind is sure to be an absolute gut punch.
Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 is available to stream on Netflix. Volume 2 will be released on December 25 at 8 p.m. EST on Netflix.
Stranger Things
Like TV-14 Drama Mystery Horror Science Fiction Release Date 2016 - 2025-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer Directors Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz Writers Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
7 Images
Eleven looking into an opening of the Upside Down with pink light in Stranger Things season 1
Jim Hopper (David Harbour) grabbing Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) shoulders in Stranger Things season 1©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Eleven with cables all over her head in Stranger Things season 4
Vecna looking towards Will in the trailer for Stranger Things season 5 (2025)
Max and Eleven in Stranger ThingsNetflix
Stranger Things season 2, episode 2 "Trick or Treat, Freak".MovieStillsDB
The Upside Down in Stranger Things season 5Courtesy of Netflix Close
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