Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1 & The First Shadow stage play!Stranger Things season 5 reveals that Henry Creel had a history with Joyce Byers and other key characters, leading to a new mystery surrounding Vecna’s backstory. By Stranger Things season 5, Volume 1’s ending, Joyce finally came face-to-face with Vecna, but that wouldn’t have been the first time the two figures met.
After building up Will’s connection to Vecna and the hive mind throughout the series, Volume 1 unveiled Will’s ability to replicate Vecna’s powers. With only four episodes left of the Duffer Brothers’ hit Netflix series, time is running out for the Party to defeat Vecna, and they will need all the help they can get.
Stranger Things season 5 featured several major story reveals, including a few that centered on Vecna, aka Henry Creel. Not only has Max been trapped in his mindscape, but Volume 1 also uncovered more details about Henry’s backstory before he became Vecna. More specifically, Stranger Things shared details about Henry’s past and how it connected to Joyce and Hopper.
Stranger Things Season 5 Confirmed That Henry Creel Went To School With Joyce & Hopper
During Volume 1’s “Sorcerer” episode, Max’s Stranger Things fate was revealed. Though she was still in a coma in the real world, her own mind had been stuck in Vecna’s mindscape since the events of season 4. She explained to Holly how she had been traveling through Henry’s memories before taking refuge in the cave. One of the most notable memories featured a young Joyce.
The memory took place at Hawkins High in 1959, when Henry was a student at the school for a brief time. Joyce, who was still Joyce Maldonado at the time, was shown passing out flyers for a play she was directing. In addition to Hopper, Karen, Ted, and Eddie’s uncle, Alan Munson, also being involved in the stage production, the flyer Joyce was passing around included Henry’s name, playing the lead role of Curly McLain in Oklahoma!.
The First Shadow Already Revealed How Henry Creel Encountered Several Stranger Things Characters
While Joyce’s familiarity with Henry might come as a surprise to some, their connection was previously confirmed in Stranger Things‘ official stage play, The First Shadow. The play, which is still on Broadway, serves as a prequel to Stranger Things and heavily focuses on Henry Creel before and after his family moves to Hawkins.
Despite detailing the Creel family’s fate, including how Henry ended up under Dr. Brenner’s care at Hawkins Lab, Stranger Things left out the fact that the young boy spent time attending the local high school for a short time. The First Shadow took place in 1959 and revealed that Henry dated Bob Newby’s sister, Patty. Both Henry and Patty were involved in Joyce’s play, which was secretly Dark of the Moon, not Oklahoma!.
The First Shadow also featured other notable Stranger Things characters, such as Bob and Hopper, who actually spent time helping Joyce investigate the mysterious deaths of animals around town. In fact, their investigation incriminated Victor Creel even though Stranger Things season 4 revealed the truth about what happened to Henry’s family.
Why Don’t Joyce & Hopper Acknowledge That They Know Vecna’s True Identity?
Seeing as Stranger Things season 5 and The First Shadow confirmed that Henry went to Hawkins when Joyce and Hopper were still students, it’s now a question of why they haven’t mentioned knowing Vecna when he was still human. Henry was supposed to be a freshman in 1959 despite some confusing timeline details in Stranger Things, while Joyce and Hopper would’ve been seniors.
In any other scenario, it would have made sense that Joyce and the others did not know Henry due to the age difference. However, they were all involved in Joyce’s school play, and the drama surrounding the Creel family would’ve been well-known throughout Hawkins, especially since Joyce and Hopper personally investigated.
It’s possible that the kids in Stranger Things never directly shared that the “Henry” they keep referring to when discussing Vecna’s identity is Henry Creel. Since that seems a bit hard to believe based on Henry’s history in Hawkins, there could also be another explanation involving suppressed memories or some kind of mind manipulation.
On the other hand, it’s also interesting that Vecna hasn’t acknowledged his history with many of the adult characters in Stranger Things. Maybe part of Vecna’s grand plan in Stranger Things season 5 has something to do with the characters, explaining why their kids have been targeted. It could even be some sort of attempt at vengeance for what happened to him and his family in 1959, but either way, the series has four more episodes to further explain the character connections.
Volume 1 of Stranger Things season 5 is now available on Netflix. Volume 2 will be released on December 25, followed by the series finale on December 31.
- Release Date
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November 26, 2025
- Network
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Netflix
- Episodes
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8
