Jamie Campbell Bower wore a costume and prosthetics to transform into Vecna in "Stranger Things."
Spoiler alert for Season 4, Vol.
A new featurette video on YouTube showcases how the Stranger Things costuming and effects team were able to transform actor Jamie Campbell Bower into the monstrous Vecna.
Factoring in the production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it took around five months to construct the full-body Vecna suit and prosthetics, which included the use of "contact lenses, dentures, [and] urethane fingernails," Gower reveals.
They found it in Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), a terrifying creature crafted by prosthetics and makeup designer Barrie Gower, who also worked on the Night King for “Game of Thrones.” Here, he takes us through the making of the Upside Down's newest (and scariest) nightmare.
The expert scored 3 Emmys for outstanding prosthetics makeup on Game of Thrones, and most recently became the recipient of another Emmy for his work on Stranger Things' Vecna. Since Vecna was a human trapped in a parallel world, he had to resemble a man while still emulating the look of many Upside Down creatures.
He was eventually destroyed, and his left hand and left eye were the only parts of his body to survive. Even after the character achieved godhood—being a member of the third edition's default pantheon of D&D gods (the pantheon of Oerth)—he is still described as missing both his left eye and left hand.
This is because his trusted accomplice, Kas the Bloody-Handed, betrayed him and used the sword Vecna created himself to chop off his left hand and remove his left eye. This ultimately destroyed Vecna. Though they're clouded with cataracts, Vecna in Stranger Things has both of his eyes.
Ready to see the prosthetics designer in action? Keep reading! Season four of Stranger Things saw its scariest villain yet: Vecna. Played by Jamie Campbell Bower, each prosthetic was glued to his skin with medical adhesive by prosthetics designer Barrie Gower and his team.
Vecna isn't as terrifying in the bathroom. Actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who played the complicated villain in “Stranger Things 4,” revealed that his terrifying Freddy Krueger-esque full-body prosthetics included a “flap” for him to use the restroom without getting out of costume.
Next up, the viewers go on to theorise that One/Vecna is actually Eleven's dad. Yep, told you it was wild. The theory claims that Brenner wanted to create a child with stronger powers, so he waited until One was old enough to become a father.
Vecna lives in the Upside Down and preys on people's past traumas and guilt. The monster curses its victims, making them relive their trauma in progressively more gruesome ways until it violently kills them.
Vecna feeds off his victims' trauma and haunts them with their own darkest thoughts.
To start, Vecna is, frankly, gross: a towering skeleton-like being covered in dark gooey vines that move and project from his back.
If the eyes and the right hand weren't enough to convince you already, it's confirmed that Vecna was once human – and he has a very strong connection to Eleven and the Hawkins Lab.
Unlike the Demogorgons and the Mind Flayer, Vecna looks somewhat human-like, and there's a reason for that. At the end of episode 7, it is revealed that Vecna was once just a boy. What's more, he was the first youngster to be experimented on at Hawkins National Laboratory and, in a former life, went by 'One'.
Vecna is the Mind Flayer. The Mind Flayer is Vecna. Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) has a connection to the very beginning of 'Stranger Things.
After inflicting protracted suffering, Vecna finally executes the victim, using his powers to make them levitate before snapping their limbs and gouging out their eyes.
While intending to get his revenge on Eleven and Brenner, Vecna also goes after victims who have dealt with traumatizing experiences in the past (reminiscent of his childhood and his time at the Hawkins lab).
The Hand and Eye of Vecna were all that remained of the arch-lich Vecna after his betrayal at the hands of his trusted vampire lieutanant, Kas the Bloody-Handed. Using a sword crafted by Vecna himself, Kas manage to cut off Vecna's left hand and left eye before in turn being destroyed.
Then, as he was falling through the Upside Down, One became the creature Vecna after lightning struck him in such a way that it changed his skin and made him into the monster he is now.
Arkhan grappled the Hand. Percy had considered shooting it off, but it couldn't be done. When the party defeated Vecna and banished him, the Hand once again remained. Arkhan pretended to prepare to destroy the Hand, cut off his own left hand, somehow attuned to the artifact in an instant, and used it to Teleport away.
Henry spends years trapped in the Upside Down, which changes him into the monster that is now terrorizing Hawkins in the present: Vecna. As Vecna, Henry uses his powers to torment his victims in the real world with haunting visions from their pasts before ultimately possessing them and mangling their bodies.
Season 4's main villain Vecna contains a multitude of easter eggs. To start, he has a giant, claw-like left hand. This is a reference to the D&D character Vecna, for whom this Vecna is named; the D&D Vecna has a monstrous hand infused with dark magic.
Who is Vecna? The big bad of Stranger Things season 4 is a humanoid monster with black skin and movable vines that protrude from his entire body. While he lives in the Upside Down, Vecna can psychically reach into the human world, kind of like the Mind Flayer's connection with Will.
He's been subjected to the toxic environment for around 20 years and has become a part of it. His silhouette incorporates sharp shapes so that, even as a slow-moving character, his toothy appendages and jagged edges make him too dangerous to touch.