Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1 opens with the Hawkins gang looking for Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), but the villain comes to them before its four episodes are through — and he has a new look. Although Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) defeats Vecna at the end of Stranger Things Season 4, he’s still out there when the latest volume picks up. This becomes all too apparent as the anniversary of Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) disappearance grows nearer. And when the group finally faces Vecna again, he has visibly changed. His new appearance makes him even more intimidating, if you can believe it. That seems to be an intentional choice, shedding light on Vecna’s physical and mental state after the 18-month time jump.
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Warning: Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1.
When Vecna arrives at the end of Stranger Things Season 5, Episode 4, the vines coating his body are more coiled and defensively curled upwards towards his face. This makes him look more menacing and larger on top, but his waist actually looks slimmer, something fans have taken to X to point out. In an interview with Screen Rant, Bower addressed this transformation, attributing it to what happened to Vecna in Season 4’s “The Piggyback.”
“Well, as we saw at the end of Season 4, Vecna suffered a fall and obviously was sort of almost burned alive,” Bower explained. “My understanding of it is that the reason he looks the way he does now is a byproduct of partly of that process. And also, just having spent more time, not in the human world, as it were.”
Vecna’s appearance makes sense after what he’s been through, but it was also a creative choice to give the villain a larger presence in Stranger Things Season 5. Barrie Gower, who handles the prosthetics for the show, told the Los Angeles Times that they were going for “Vecna on steroids.” However, concept artist and VFX supervisor Michael Maher Jr. noted that they wanted to accomplish this without leaning into “the cliché, bigger and bulkier” approach. After “Sorcerer,” it’s safe to say they pulled it off.
Vecna’s New Look Highlights the Villain’s Mental State After Season 4
Vecna should loom large over Stranger Things Season 5, and his physicality should represent that — but from what Bower told Screen Rant, his look is also reflective of his mental state. “He’s become more resentful and hideous within that process and part of the world in which he was thrown into,” the actor explained.
An angrier, more resentful Vecna raises concerns, as the villain was already a forced to be reckoned with. Nursing a grudge, he’s likely to be even more dangerous. That can already be seen when he attacks the military and takes the remaining kids. However, it may come out in full force if the Hawkins gang gains any ground in the fight against him. And honestly? This tense, heightened version of the villain is exactly what Season 5 needs.
Vecna’s Updated Appearance Is Perfect for Stranger Things Season 5
Vecna’s new look might seem perplexing at first, but it makes sense for the character, and it’s the perfect choice for Stranger Things’ final season. While some fans are still predicting that the Mind Flayer could be the true Big Bad of the Netflix series, Vecna is the main threat looming over Hawkins in the latest episodes. Ensuring that his appearance reflects that is a smart move, and it makes it even more worrying that our favorite Stranger Things characters will need to face him again. It’s the ideal way to ramp up the stakes ahead of Volume 2 on December 25.
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