Short answers, pulled from the story.
Henry IV, Part 2 is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is possible Shakespeare interrupted its composition around Acts 3-4 to write The Merry Wives of Windsor, possibly commissioned for a meeting of the Order of the Garter on the 23rd of April 1597.
Henry IV, Part 2 follows two parallel storylines: Falstaff's comic misadventures in the London underworld and Prince Hal's difficult path toward kingship as his father, King Henry IV, falls gravely ill. The play ends with Hal ascending the throne and formally rejecting Falstaff, while the remaining London lowlifes are arrested.
Shakespeare originally named the character Oldcastle after the historical figure Sir John Oldcastle, following his source The Famous Victories of Henry V. He was forced to change the name to Falstaff after complaints from Oldcastle's descendants. The epilogue of Part 2 explicitly states that "Oldcastle died martyr, and this is not the man."
Orson Welles played Falstaff in his 1965 film Chimes at Midnight, which combined both Henry IV plays into a single condensed film. John Gielgud played King Henry, Keith Baxter played Hal, Margaret Rutherford played Mistress Quickly, and Norman Rodway played Hotspur.
The most quoted line from Henry IV, Part 2 is "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," spoken by King Henry IV in Act III, scene 1. It is frequently misquoted as "Heavy is the head that wears the crown" and appears in films including The Queen and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
The 2024 stage adaptation Player Kings, directed by Robert Icke, starred Ian McKellen as Falstaff, Toheeb Jimoh as Hal, and Richard Coyle as King Henry IV. The production ran at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End before a UK tour.