The highly-anticipated and long-awaited fourth season of Netflix’s popular sci-fi series Stranger Things is finally on the horizon. With the first part of Season 4 due to come out next month, more details are being revealed about the insane new episodes and what will be going on in Hawkins. Creators and brothers Ross and Matt Duffer share more about the season’s big bad, portrayed by horror icon Robert Englund, and how he will be the key to the upcoming episodes.
Robert Englund is known as the devious Freddy Krueger in the beloved Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. He is set to portray Victor Creel/Vecna in Stranger Things 4, and Victor’s backstory is a tragic one. After moving into a new house with his family, strange things started to occur that drove Victor to the murderous brink of insanity. He was locked in a psychiatric hospital, and now it seems like he’s free.
During a virtual press presentation in June 2021, co-creator Ross Duffer explained how the events in the “Creel House” will play a big part in Season 4 (via EW):
What occurs in that house is pivotal to understanding what has been happening in Hawkins all of these years.
A big mystery heading into the new season is how this character will play into action and what he will do with the kids of Stranger Things. Victor’s time in the Upside Down and lack of sunlight turned him into something monstrous, known in the shows as "Vecna." In the same vein as "Demogorgon" and "Mind Flayer" before it, the name is pulled from Dungeons and Dragons.
Now that the kids are all separated, this could be even worse news for them following the events of Season 3. Ross Duffer described how this new evil will work and what it could mean for Eleven, who no longer has powers:
Part of the drive and tension of this season is that we have this big new evil emerge in Hawkins, and for the first time ever, Eleven [Millie Bobby Brown] is not there. And not only is she separated by distance, but at the end of season 3, she's lost her powers, so even when she learns about what has happened in Hawkins, she is unable to help them in the same way she has before.
Meanwhile, with every monster or being to come out of the Upside Down, there will also be creatures that start with “demo.” Matt Duffer shared the next set of creatures and just how dangerous they will be. If they’re traveling with Vecna, they're bound to be deadly:
We always like to introduce a new demo-creature, as you will, and so we were excited about introducing demo-bats. Maybe one of them alone is not very dangerous, but when there's hundreds and hundreds of them coming to you at the same time, they're very, very deadly, and they also have the ability to act as spies, so you may not even see one in the tree, and it spies you, and then suddenly because everything is a hive mind in the Upside Down, every monster in there knows that you're there.
Fans got a first look at Vecna in the official trailer for Stranger Things 4 that was recently released. Although it was a brief look at the end of the trailer, it was enough to rule anyone’s nightmares. The terrifying villain will definitely solidify the brothers’ intentions to make Season 4 more horror-esque, and I’m excited to see how the Freddy Krueger star will play Vecna. Who better to cast than Robert Englund?
Season 4 of Stranger Things will be split into two parts, so it will be interesting to see if Vecna will carry on into Part 2 or if there will be something completely new to deal with in Hawkins. The series also was renewed for a fifth and final season. Knowing Stranger Things, the show will go above and beyond to end the journey. The Upside Down is an unpredictable and creepy place that just won’t stop churning out monsters.
Don’t miss the first part of Stranger Things 4 dropping on Netflix on Friday, May 27! Check out CinemaBlend’s 2022 Netflix schedule to see what other shows to look forward to on the streamer.
