Meet Vecna, the new big bad of Stranger Things

Netflix released a trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things the other day, and it got the internet buzzing. What will befall Eleven, Hopper, Mike and the rest of the crew now that they’re spread all over the world? Take a look:

One of the big things that stood out from the trailer is the introduction of a new baddie, a humanoid figure who looks like a living corpse. “You’ve broken everything,” he says at the top of the trailer. “Your suffering is almost at an end.” Cheery guy.

Apparently, his name is Vecna, and he has a big part to play going forward.

Stranger Things creators have wanted to introduce Vecna “for a long time”

Okay, first of all, is this the first thing that popped into anyone else’s head when they first got a look at Vecna?

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer did say that this was their “Game of Thrones season…”

But to hear them tell it, the Duffer brothers had other inspirations in mind when they crafted this character. “We wanted to introduce the idea right away that there is a major new threat,” said in an IGN trailer breakdown. “We’ve always wanted to do our… whatever version of… a Freddy Krueger, or a Pinhead, or a Pennywise. Because those were the monsters… the villains… supernatural villains that terrified us the most when we growing up.”

So big surprise, the pair were inspired by bogeymen from ’80s movies. “It’s something we’ve wanted to do since Season 2, it just took us this long to get there,” they continued. “But this is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”

Vecna is clearly some kind of hell creature from the Upside Down, the same alternate dimension that sweethearts like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer call home. Like those guys, his name is taken from Dungeons & Dragons. There, Vecna is a powerful wizard who becomes a dark god.

But who is he, really? Time for some Stranger Things conspiracies…

Is Vecna from Stranger Things actually [SPOILER]?

Okay, so the new rumor going around is that Vecna is, in actuality…Billy (Dacre Montgomery).

Billy, if you don’t recall, is Max’s brother, the guy who was a jerk in the kids in season 2 and who then got possessed by the Mind Flayer in season 3 and became an even bigger jerk before he heroically sacrificed his life to protect Eleven in the season finale.

What evidence is there for this theory? I mean, not a ton, but the trailer does focus on Billy a lot considering that he didn’t have that big a role on the show. Also, there’s that bit where Max (Sadie Sink) is levitating. How in the world does that work? Is Billy reaching out to her somehow from beyond the grave? Did his spirit get caught in the Upside Down and get integrated into the body of the dark god of that fell place? I don’t know, but if Hopper is somehow alive after his apparent “death” at the end of season 3, anything is on the table.

Also, there’s one particular behind-the-scenes shot that seems to show Montgomery being put into full body makeup, but that doesn’t prove anything. None of this proves anything, but it is fun to talk about while we wait for the first batch of new episodes to come out on May 27. The second batch will be out on July 1.

That’s right, Stranger Things is so major this year it’s coming out in two parts. Get ready.

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