Stranger Things Creators Nearly Made Vecna a Surprising Ally
The Duffer Brothers almost gave Vecna a redemptive twist in the Stranger Things finale, but ultimately decided his fate was sealed. Discover what led to their final decision and how close the villain came to switching sides.
If you sensed a possible redemption arc for Vecna during his final exchange with Will Byers in the Stranger Things finale, you weren’t imagining things. The show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, recently shared that they seriously considered letting Vecna, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, have a last-minute change of heart. But after much debate, they realized he had crossed a line that made turning back impossible.
Behind the Scenes: A Villain’s Fate
The Duffer Brothers drew inspiration from epic finales like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as they wrapped up the series. At one point, they even toyed with the idea of borrowing from Return of the Jedi, hinting at a possible redemption for Vecna similar to Darth Vader’s. In a conversation with Netflix Tudum, Ross Duffer explained,
“We did discuss with the writers’ room if he could have a Billy [Dacre Montgomery] moment where he turns against the Mind Flayer [in a] Darth Vader-type situation.”
But as the writers and Jamie Campbell Bower talked it through, it became clear that Vecna had gone too far to justify a sudden change of heart.
Ross Duffer elaborated,
“But the more we talked about it with the writers and with Jamie, he’s gone so far at this point to get here, he has to justify everything he’s done. And the only way to justify that is to go, ‘I chose this, and I believe in this still.’”
The scene with Will lingers just long enough to make viewers wonder if Vecna might actually turn, but ultimately, the creators decided his path was set.
Leaving Room for Interpretation
Like many storylines in the show’s final chapter, the Duffers wanted to leave some ambiguity about Vecna’s motivations. Was he always in control, or was he manipulated by the Mind Flayer from the start? Ross Duffer said,
“Even though he is shaken by seeing this memory, he’s too far gone at this point to turn against the Mind Flayer. But we wanted to leave it up to the audience whether young Henry chose this or whether the Mind Flayer controlled him from beginning to end.”
Despite the hints and the emotional weight of the scene, the writers felt that Vecna’s journey had reached a point of no return. In the end, Ross Duffer summed it up:
“But ultimately, in terms of where Henry goes, it doesn’t matter because he chooses the side of the Mind Flayer at the end of the day.”
The Final Decision
No matter how the finale played out, the creators stood by their choice to end Vecna’s story the way they did. If he had survived, Joyce’s (Winona Ryder) dramatic moment with the ax would have lost its impact. The Duffers’ willingness to explore different possibilities, even ones that never made it to screen, shows just how much thought went into crafting the show’s conclusion.