Stranger Things Creators Nearly Gave Vecna a Redemption Arc

If you were watching the Stranger Things finale and thought Vecna might pull off a last-minute act of heroism during his chat with Will Byers, you weren’t the only one. The show’s creators, the Duffer Brothers, have admitted they toyed with the idea of giving Vecna a shot at redemption before ultimately deciding he’d crossed a line he couldn’t come back from.

While wrapping up the series, the Duffers drew inspiration from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but they nearly borrowed a page from Return of the Jedi as well. In a recent interview, Ross Duffer explained their thinking, saying,

‘We did discuss with the writers’ room if he could have a Billy moment where he turns against the Mind Flayer [in a] Darth Vader-type situation,’

referencing the character’s possible change of heart. But after talking it through with the writers and Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna, they realised he’d gone too far to turn back.

Redemption Considered, But Not Chosen

The idea was to see if Vecna, or Henry Creel as he was once known, could have a moment similar to Billy’s, where he’d turn on the Mind Flayer. But as the discussions went on, it became clear that everything Henry had done needed to be justified in his own mind. The only way to do that was for him to stick to his choices and beliefs, no matter how dark they’d become.

There’s a moment in the finale where it almost feels like Henry might reconsider his path. The scene lingers just long enough to make punters wonder if he’s about to switch sides. But, like many threads in the last chapter, the Duffers left it open for the audience to interpret whether Henry was ever truly in control, or if the Mind Flayer had been pulling the strings all along.

Too Far Gone for a Turnaround

Ross Duffer summed it up, saying,

‘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.’

In the end, though, it didn’t really matter, because Henry made his choice and stuck with the Mind Flayer.

For all the speculation about what could have been, the creators felt that killing off Henry was the only way forward. If he’d survived, Joyce’s axe would’ve been a bit of a wasted effort, too.