There is a long way to go before Stranger Things season 5 will arrive. But in the meantime, fans can satisfy their craving with the stage play coming next month. As the release date is coming closer, we are getting more clues about what we can expect from not only the play but also season 5. Now one fan has come up with a mindblowing theory that might have predicted the entire plot of season 5.
The stage play tells the tales of Joyce, Hopper and Bob who are in high school and notice the arrival of a new kid named Henry Creel. Fans are speculating about what insights the play might offer regarding Henry, also known as Vecna as it tells his backstory.
Now this brilliant theory says that Henry Creel rewrote time in 1959 causing Joyce, Hopper, and Bob to forget the events of their youth. It states that Joyce and Hopper were destined to be together. However, Henry Creel altered the timeline preventing them from being together. This was necessary so Will Byers was born which set everything into motion. If Joyce and Hopper were together, Will would never be born and the gate would never have been opened.
In season 4 we see young Henry telepathically manipulating the hands on the clock and if we watch the scene with older Henry's dialogues, it implies that he may have altered the time. A user Willow the Wise has shared this theory on Twitter as he wrote,
"I think Henry Creel literally rewrote time in 1959, that this might be explored in the play, AND it may be one of the reasons Joyce and Hopper had to be away from Hawkins in S4.
This could be why Hopper feels cursed. Maybe he's one of the few alive when this happened that's subconsciously aware he was previously set on a different course; one where he didn't get drafted and his daughter didn't die—maybe even one where he originally ends up with Joyce.
Maybe Will being born is part of Henry's plan since it sets everything into motion. Remember "a Jopper a day keeps the Vecna away?" if Hopper had ended up together in hs, will would never have been born, and everything that led to the gates opening never would have happened.
Sidenote: this concept would also solidify the soulmateism of Jopper which I find exciting. two individuals who were meant to be together but got separated because Henry played god, eventually finding their way back to each other in the end—maybe even acting as the key to the end.
So what if Henry actually rewrote time in 1959? What if he literally changed the timeline and set it on a different path so that everything in the future would lead to where it did (specifically the destruction of Hawkins and the opening of the gates)?
Brenner's emphasis on deeply buried memories. not sure what the key is exactly, but maybe Joyce and Hopper remembering that Henry altered their timeline will create a paradox that will ultimately be Vecna's undoing.
The show's many references to time traveling scares me a little. I hope going back in time to set everything to the "correct" timeline isn't the key. It would change the characters entirely and some would cease to exist (Will, Jonathan, El). I do hope there's another solution.
Another thought: Will's disappearance truly sets the entire show in motion; it puts the characters on the path that leads to Vecna's plan coming to fruition, and we know Will was taken for a reason, and that the UD being stuck on the day he went missing is purposeful.
Later the user also added that this could be the reason that no one remembered Will's birthday. "What if the reason no one remembered Will's birthday is because he wasn't supposed to exist, and him being outside of Hawkins and far away from Vecna's reach started to slowly chip away at his control over everyone's minds?"
This theory is actually terrific but now the Stranger Things writers have also shared their insights. Talking with the Las Angeles Times, they stated that the play will explain why Joyce, Bob and Hopper seem surprised by what’s going on in Hawkins in season 1 and does not connect it to their high school years.
You can check out the complete theory in the Twitter thread below.
i just came up with a stranger things theory that's kind of blowing my mind.
i think henry creel literally rewrote time in 1959, that this might be explored in the play, AND it may be one of the reasons joyce and hopper had to be away from hawkins in s4 — a thread 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ZaKwCoXH2N
— willow the wise (@sapphicjopper) April 4, 2023
