New York Comic Con is only a few short weeks away, and the annual pop culture convention’s lineup is about to add a stop to the Upside Down!
ReedPop, the organization behind the annual NYCC event, has announced the addition of a Stranger Things panel to the 2025 lineup. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this panel is not for the Netflix show in support of the final season.
Rather than sending the cast of the show, Netflix will instead be hosting a panel in support of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the Tony Award-winning play inspired by the hit series. The special panel will feature appearances from Alex Breaux (Dr. Brenner), Gabrielle Neveah (Patty Newby), Burke Swanson (James Hopper Jr.) and Louis McCartney (Henry Creel) “as they reveal the magic, mystery and excitement of bringing the Netflix phenomenon to life on Broadway.”
The panel is scheduled to take place on Thursday, Oct. 9, the first day of the event, in an hour-long panel that Stranger Things fans will not want to miss!
The news is bittersweet to say the least. While we’re thrilled to see Stranger Things: The First Shadow featured at New York Comic Con, we’re disappointed that Netflix seems to be sitting NYCC out this year and will not be sending Stranger Things to the convention.
Somehow during the show’s run, Stranger Things has only ever been featured at New York Comic Con once with a panel way back in 2016 featuring Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour. The show has also only been to San Diego Comic-Con once, with a panel way back in 2017.
Given how massive the show is and the impact it’s had on pop culture, it’s honestly shocking that Netflix has only ever promoted the show twice at the two biggest pop culture conventions. It’s also incredibly disappointing that Netflix has chosen not to promote the show this year at either SDCC or NYCC, as it would have been amazing to see the cast get the chance to come together for a panel at either event in support of the final season.
We can somewhat understand sitting out SDCC which took place in July, months before the first part of the show’s final season will arrive. However, NYCC seems like the perfect time for Netflix to ramp up promotion for the final season and a Stranger Things panel featuring the cast would have surely been the biggest panel of the entire NYCC event!
Netflix could have used NYCC to jumpstart the final season tour, getting fans excited for what’s to come as the final episodes begin to roll out on Nov. 26 ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. But hey, at least we get to enjoy a taste of Stranger Things still at NYCC via the Stranger Things: The First Shadow panel. That’s better than nothing at all!