Stranger Things 4 Producer Teases “Far More Evil” Villain Vecna in New Episodes

At long last, Stranger Things is finally making its return to Netflix after nearly three years away. The first half of Stranger Things 4 arrives on Netflix on May 27th, with the second half coming on July 1st. Along with new episodes, Stranger Things is also bringing a brand new villain this time around, and this one has the potential to be the scariest of the entire series. Vecna, who was teased at the end of the Stranger Things 4 trailer, is more of a humanoid being rather than a traditional monster,

While speaking to IGN, Stranger Things producer and director Shawn Levy explained that Vecna is a more terrifying force than anything the residents of Hawkins, Indiana have faced to this point. Vecna is poised to be “far more evil” than the demogorgon.

“Season 4 required a villain unlike any before,” Levy said. “And it needed to be more than a creature, more than an evil cloud of particulate. It needed to be a humanoid villain with more depth, more dimension, and far more evil. That’s what Vecna is.”

At the Stranger Things 4 premiere, series star David Harbour offered some thoughts on what Vecna brings to the table in this new season. Like Levy, Harbour confirmed that the villain is much different than anything we’ve seen so far.

“Vecna is a psychological horror that I don’t think we’ve really seen,” Harbour told Variety. “The Upside Down has been this wild west world where there are creatures running around, there’s violence, but we’ve never seen something as calculatedly psychologically evil as this. That’s exciting because he is a true big bad that we’ve needed in the series.”

Gaten Matarazzo, who plays fan-favorite character Dustin, also opened up a bit about the horror that Vecna brings to Stranger Things. According to the young actor, this is a kind of villain that’s completely different than the evils Hawkins has dealt with in the past.

“The craziest thing is just how new and fresh the villain feels compared to what we’ve had before,” Matarazzo said. “It’s something that brings a whole new vibe to how we deal with our villains in Stranger Things and how we will continue to do so going forward.”

Stranger Things 4 premieres on Netflix on May 27th.