An upcoming VR game set in the Stranger Things universe will let fans become one of the Netflix show's most formidable villains: Vecna.The official Stranger Things Twitter account recently confirmed that Vecna is the player character in the aptly-named Stranger Things VR, which is set to arrive in Winter 2023. The announcement tweet included a video showcasing gameplay footage from Vecna's perspective. Several familiar characters and locations are visible in the video, most notably Vecna's nemesis Eleven (played in the series by Millie Bobby Brown) and the twisted Upside Down dimension Vecna calls home. It's currently unclear whether Stranger Things VR is considered part of the franchise's official canon or if it takes place in its own separate continuity.
Vecna first appeared in Stranger Things Season 4 and was born out of series creators Matt and Ross Duffer's desire to introduce an antagonist with a more psychological horror bent. Ross Duffer noted that he and his brother revisited classic movie monsters like A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger and It's Pennywise the Dancing Clown, before focusing on creating a unique character purpose-built for the Stranger Things world. "You try to analyze it, but at a certain point, we stopped talking so much about [the references] to try to tell the story because I don't think you can just do a collage of references. It's never going to work," he said.
Vecna Star Teases His Stranger Things S5 Return
Vecna is seemingly destroyed in Stranger Things Season 4's finale, "Chapter Nine: The Piggyback," however, actor Jamie Campbell Bower has since confirmed the villain will be back in Season 5. Bower described Vecna as "pissed" following his defeat and warned that the baddie's thirst for revenge was now stronger than ever. "It's like, you're really fucking pushed the buttons now, that classic Jason Voorhees [the killer in Friday the 13th] thing -- you've made a big mistake," he said.
More recently, Bower expressed interest in seeing Vecna go head-to-head with Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) in Stranger Things' fifth and final season. The star alluded to Will's prior history with the Upside-Down and touched on online theories pointing to a possible connection between him and Vecna reaching back to the first season. "I do think there is unfinished business there between the two of them," Bower said. "I am a huge fan of this show, and I know from sort of skulking around on the internet there are people suggesting that we may have seen Vecna in Season 1."
Seasons 1-4 of Stranger Things are currently streaming on Netflix. Season 5 does not yet have a release date.
Source: Twitter