Like Icarus, Stranger Things flew too close to the sun. What was once a pop culture phenomenon limped to the finish line in its final season, weighed down by a bloated cast, a series of revelations that landed like lead weights, and a polarizing finale that had fans gaslighting themselves into thinking Netflix filmed a secret episode. (Matters weren’t helped when It: Welcome to Derry actually dropped a secret episode!) Now, Netflix is trying to launch a new chapter of the Stranger Things franchise with Other Worlds: A Stranger Things Adventure, which takes place 30 years before the main series.While Stranger Things creators Ross and Matt Duffer have said that Other Worlds was in the works for several years, the announcement was met with skepticism rather than cheers in many online circles, and for good reason. Previous attempts to expand the world of Stranger Things have run into the “prequel problem” – delivering unsatisfying answers to questions fans have about a series or making unnecessary connections between characters. Key examples, of course, include the Star Wars prequels, but also the short-lived Fantastic Beasts series and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});In the case of Stranger Things, the prequel problem has never been more prominent than with Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a stage play meant to explore the origins of Henry Creel a.k.a. Number One a.k.a. Vecna. While The First Shadow does manage to dive into the events that lead to Henry turning into Upside Down monster, it also made the strange decision to reveal that a young Jim Hopper was classmates with Joyce Hopper and Bob Newby. While that’s thankfully overshadowed by the bond Henry forms with Bob’s sister Patty, it feels less like an organic story decision and more of a reminder that this is a Stranger Things story. It also doesn’t help that Jack Thorne, who penned the similarly bizarre Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, helped develop the story for The First Shadow.The First Shadow also heavily influenced season 5 of Stranger Things, to the point that a major plot element was lifted straight from the play. The issue is that unless you had Broadway tickets, there was no other way to see The First Shadow, meaning some fans were left out of the loop. Even the reveal that a filmed performance is coming to Netflix feels like The First Shadow showing up to a party just as it’s winding down.It also looks like The First Shadow isn’t done influencing Stranger Things, as Other Worlds is said to focus on the strange rock Henry discovers in a cave. What this rock is, and what its connection is to the “other worlds” mentioned in the title, is unclear. But with this series being announced at a time when interest in Stranger Things is at an all-time low, Netflix is going to have to pull off a Mind Flayer-sized miracle if it wants to recapture the magic.The post The Stranger Things Franchise Currently Has a Prequel Problem appeared first on Den of Geek.