The cast and crew behind Stranger Things Season 4 have teased the overwhelming threat posed by the latest villain, Vecna, who has been described as “their version of a Pennywise, Pinhead, or Freddy Krueger.” Speaking with IGN, director Shawn Levy has provided a serious hype job for the latest bad guy, calling it “unlike anything before.”

“Season 4 required a villain unlike any before. And it needed to be more than a creature, more than an evil cloud of particulate. It needed to be a humanoid villain with more depth, more dimension, and far more evil. That's what Vecna is.”

While we have seen little of Vecna so far, what we have seen certainly suggests that grandiose descriptions like “far more evil” will be lived up to. Following in the footsteps of both the Mind Flayer and the Demogorgon, Vecna takes its name from Dungeons & Dragons, with the backstory of the source character suggesting some interesting things about who the character might be. These theories have been strengthened further by returning star Sadie Sink, who calls Vecna’s vendetta “a lot more personal.”

"We've never seen a villain like this before. It is interesting just how he chooses his next targets and everything. Everything's just a lot more personal."

Actress Millie Bobby Brown has added further hype, teasing not just the details of the villain, but how it was brought to life practically as well.

“This season, there are no limitations. There are things that I didn’t even think were possible — like our main monster this season. Just that in and of itself is quite crazy. I never thought that we would be able to do that on our show, and the fact that there's so little CGI and it’s already that scary just shows that there are no limitations.”

Could Vecna Have Ties to Eleven and the Hawkins Laboratory?

The theories surrounding the true identity of Vecna are beginning to look more and more possible. Regarded as one of the greatest villains in Dungeons & Dragons, Vecna was born human and was one of the members of the “untouchable caste in the Flan city of Fleeth on Oerth.” Trained by his mother in the art of magic, Vecna vowed revenge after his mother was executed for practicing witchcraft. In the name of vengeance, Vecna turned to the dark arts, mastering them more than anyone had before.

This tragic backstory has led many to believe that Vecna could be the One to Eleven’s number 11, with the character beginning as a human before being experimented on, betrayed, and retreating into the Upside Down. Now one with the alternate world, whoever Vecna turns out to be, they are clearly rather desperate to punish the town of Hawkins.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too long to find out the truth, with the first part of Stranger Things Season 4 set to premiere on Netflix on May 27, 2022. The second volume will be released five weeks later on July 1, 2022.