It’s been three years since we last saw Vecna and some all Stranger Things fans can’t stop talking about the villain’s slimmer appearance.
Part 1 of the show’s fifth and final season dropped on Wednesday, November 26, with Jamie Campbell Bower returning as Vecna. The actor, 37, also reprised his role as Henry (a.k.a the human version of Vecna) who appeared as a friendly despite having ulterior motives with a secret plan to kidnap the kids in Hawkins.
While the story line was more focused on Vecna’s revenge, the biggest conversation about Vecna was related to his appearance.
“I wonder, why does Vecna look so different? The „branches“ on his shoulder? Slimmer waist?” read one post via X while another fan wrote, “Vecna coming out with a 14 inch waist.”
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Bower poked fun at the change between seasons by suggesting in his X reply that Vecna found time for “Zumba” in between terrorizing the residents of Hawkins. Since joining the hit Netflix series in 2022, Bower has opened up about bringing the big bad to life.
“I first got two sets of [script] sides, one from Primal Fear, and one from Hellraiser,” he told Variety in May 2022. “I had no idea what this character was. I wasn’t sent any material from the show.”
Watching the series allowed Bower to develop his version of the mysterious character.
“I went crazy for, like, two days. In my apartment, I put a picture of Will Byers [Noah Schnapp] in the middle, and then all the other characters around it, and then sort of made this Claire Danes-esque from Homeland mind-map of who I thought this person was,” he continued. “I stepped back from it after two days, and was like, ‘That feels kind of good.’ So I took a picture, and then I printed out all the pictures and put them in this little folder — and then I got a phone call saying Matt and Ross [Duffer] wanted to meet.”
Bower then showed the creators the vision he had for the role. “They were like, ‘This is literally perfect. Everything that you’ve gotten here is perfect. Your references are perfect. The inspiration is perfect. Do you mind if we show you some more visual references that we have and what we’re thinking, and tell you a little bit more about the character?’” he recalled. “I think, by that point, they knew I wasn’t completely insane.”
At the time, Bower revealed that it took about seven and a half hours to transform into the monster through prosthetics. After filming for 12 hours, the actor wasn’t in a rush to remove all the makeup.
“I came in in character, wearing the character, so I’m sitting in the makeup chair very still, not really talking to anyone. Music is a big help for me. I find it to be a very visceral experience,” he noted to Variety. “I had a few records that I was just constantly spinning on repeat as I’d been building the character I’d had on anyway, so there was that, sort of, subconsciousness that was coming through.”
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Bower recalled asking for an extra 30 minutes to himself before filming started, adding, “It was totally pitch black. I’d sit in [a dark room] between the takes and go for it. It was really interesting. About halfway through, I started to become quite afraid of Vecna.”
After the second installment of season 4 aired in July 2022, Bower broke down the “very complicated process” of going to the bathroom in his Vecna costume.
“The top half is glued [to my body], and then the bottom half is like these trousers, and there’s a flap,” he told TV Line. “Poor Duncan [Jarman, the makeup-effects department cohead] would have to un-pop me first of all, and then there’s a zipper in the trousers. Then [someone] would have to stand outside the restroom.”
Bower continued: “I can’t really touch anything. I had these nails glued on as well as the hands. So I’d come back from the bathroom with, like, a nail coming off and say to [makeup-effects artist] Mike Mekash, ‘Mike, can you fix my finger? I’m really sorry!’”
Stranger Things returns with Volume 2 on December 25 and the finale drops December 31 on Netflix.
