The human identity of Stranger Things’ season 4 monster Vecna remains a mystery, though one major theory suggests actor Robert Englund will be the man under the prosthetics. While the earlier teasers for season 4 suggested the primary villains would be humans from Hawkins Lab, Russia, and the United States government, the official trailer reveals that Stranger Things’ characters are taking on their most dangerous foe from the Upside Down yet. In addition to hinting that Stranger Things’ monster is the voice in the trailer, theories about the actor behind the villain have abounded, with many pointing at Robert Englund.
Following the Demogorgons in season 1 and the Mind Flayer in seasons 2 and 3, Stranger Things season 4’s new villain goes by the name of Vecna, fittingly named after another Dungeons & Dragons character. However, this monster is unlike any that the Stranger Things heroes have faced in the series so far, as he appears to be a human hybrid who may be the controlling mind of the Upside Down. With the understanding that an entire Stranger Things season 4 episode is titled “Vecna’s Curse” and Max is mysteriously seen levitating at Billy’s grave, it seems the new monster will be tormenting the characters in a far more horrifying and personal manner.
Aside from the villain Vecna, who has an ominous Upside Down connection to Creel House, one of the most mysterious additions to Stranger Things season 4 comes from the casting of horror legend Robert Englund. Perhaps best known for playing the terrifying villain Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street horror films, Englund is Stranger Things’ latest ‘80s-era stunt casting, whose role appears to be far more significant than the trailers have led on. With a horror icon in its back pocket whose most famous character resembles the new villain, Stranger Things season 4’s huge villain theory unsurprisingly claims that the actor is playing the show’s most monstrous foe yet.
While Stranger Things season 4 has brought on plenty of new faces for the locations in California, Hawkins, and Russia, the most significant casting reveal was that of Robert Englund. The icon is set to portray Victor Creel in Stranger Things, who has an extremely ominous past in Hawkins. Victor Creel and his family were shown to have moved into what is now known as Creel House in Hawkins during the 1950s, whereafter he was imprisoned in Pennhurst Mental Hospital for the gruesome murders of his wife and two young children. At one point in time, Victor Creel gouged out his own eyes, leaving him blind during Stranger Things’ 1986 timeline.
Since Creel House has been revealed to have a sinister connection to the Upside Down, particularly through its grandfather clock in the attic, it’s hinted that Victor Creel was cursed or influenced by the supernatural dimension around the time he murdered his family. While Stranger Things season 4 is likely to depict what truly occurred during his brutal murders in the 1950s, Robert Englund’s Victor Creel will also be an important figure in the 1980s as the show’s teens investigate his old home’s mysterious happenings. One released image from Stranger Things season 4 depicts Nancy and Robin dressed up in '50s-era clothing with fake nametags as they visit Pennhurst Mental Hospital, suggesting Englund's Victor Creel is key to the characters discovering the truth behind the Upside Down's connection to Hawkins.
The Duffer brothers revealed that Stranger Things’ new monster is named Vecna, whose likeness comes from the lore of Dungeons & Dragons’ monsters. In Stranger Things, Vecna resides in the Upside Down as a powerful figure, who is seemingly based in the attic of the other-dimensional Creel House. The monster appears to be held up in the attic by arms reminiscent of those from Stranger Things’ Mind Flayer, with the villain also serving as a human-monster hybrid.
According to Dungeons & Dragon’s lore, Vecna was once a powerful mortal wizard who became a lich, an undead spellcaster who attempts to defy death through magic. Perhaps connecting to Victor Creel gouging out his eyes, Dungeons & Dragons history states that to use the power of Vecna’s missing eye or hand, one must cut off their own corresponding body part and replace it with Vecna’s, though such artifacts will gradually turn the host evil over time. As such, it’s assumed that Stranger Things season 4’s episode “Vecna’s Curse” will see one of the characters corrupted by the monster, with the most likely cursed subject being Max Mayfield, who was seen levitating in a similar fashion to Vecna in the trailer.
In addition to (or in accordance with) playing Victor Creel, Robert England may also be portraying Stranger Things’ monster Vecna. Considering all of the connections between Victor Creel and Vecna through Creel House and the monster’s known curse, it seems the figures could not only both be played by Robert Englund, but be one and the same character. Perhaps the Upside Down took control of Victor Creel back in the 1950s, with part of Creel being preserved in the Upside Down’s version of his home through Vecna, while the remaining mortal part of his character remained in the Pennhurst Mental Hospital. The humanoid aspect of Vecna lends itself to the belief that the man under the monster is one of the known characters from Stranger Things outside of the Upside Down, with Victor Creel being the most likely candidate.
Victor may have become obsessed with the Upside Down’s connections to Creel House back in 1959, perhaps investigating the supernatural world and the grandfather clock before becoming a victim to its curse. Since Creel seemed to be an everyday family man before moving into the house, it seems Englund’s Stranger Things character was likely corrupted by Vecna’s curse before being driven to murder his family. While this adds more intrigue as to how Vecna could have a humanoid likeness in the Upside Down at the same time that the mortal Creel is in Hawkins’ psychiatric hospital, it’s possible the Upside Down’s monster impersonated his likeness or, like in Dungeons & Dragons’ lore, has taken Victor’s missing body parts to become more powerful. Considering the speaker in Stranger Things’ trailer sounds like many of the gravelly voice roles of Robert Englund, it seems the horror actor will be portraying two significant antagonists in the series: One in the Upside Down, and one in Hawkins.
It would almost be a waste for such a highly revered villain actor to simply portray a man locked in Pennhurst Mental Hospital for the duration of Stranger Things season 4, which is why it makes more sense that he would have an even more important role in the Upside Down. Since Vecna’s prosthetics also resemble the look of Englund’s Freddy Krueger, including the monster’s one clawed hand, bringing the actor back to revive the essence of his most iconic ‘80s character would be perfect for Stranger Things’ scariest season yet. Stranger Things’ casting of 1980s actors has typically played on their most iconic roles from this era, such as Winona Ryder’s Joyce Byers being a semi-rebellious protagonist, Sean Astin’s Bob being a nerdy yet adventurous spirit, and Paul Reiser’s Dr. Owens continuing an anti-hero authoritative presence. Since Robert Englund is almost exclusively associated with his iconic Freddy Krueger role, casting him as Stranger Things season 4’s new Freddy-like monster is a recipe for success on the show’s horror front.
