Stranger Things' Vecna Actor Unpacks Season 4 Finale's Epic Battle

Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower discusses his take on the epic climactic battle between Eleven and Vecna in the season 4 finale.

Stranger Things' Vecna Actor Unpacks Season 4 Finale's Epic Battle

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 4.

Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower unpacks the season 4 finale’s epic climactic battle. Set six months after the Battle of Starcourt, the teenage heroes of Hawkins, Indiana, once again faced off against a malevolent presence from the alternate dimension known as the Upside Down. Bower stars as Vecna, a terrifying telepathic being who was previously known as Henry Creel, Dr. Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) first patient in his cruel experiments with young children. After having his telepathic inhibitor implant removed by a young Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Henry goes on a rampage in Dr. Brenner’s lab, killing nearly all of the employees as well as the remaining child subjects. This results in a telekinetic fight between One and Eleven, culminating in the former being transported to the Upside Down.

After years of exploring the desolate and violent Upside Down, Henry built an army of demonic forces and continuously attempted to breach the dimensional boundary with Earth. Season 4 found him killing three Hawkins residents to create fissures between the two realities. With Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) in his sights, the Hawkins group formulates a daring but futile multi-prong attack to stop him. However, by telepathically entering Max’s mind from over 1,000 miles away, Eleven manages to battle Vecna and defeat him once again — temporarily, at least.

In a recent interview with THR, Bower discusses his take on the epic climactic battle between Eleven and Vecna in the Stranger Things season 4 finale. When asked why he thought that Eleven was able to defeat Vecna telepathically, the actor expressed his belief that there is power in the group, but also believes that luck came into play. Read what Bower said about the final fight below.

“It’s that battle between perceived good and perceived darkness. And at that point in time, good seems to be prevailing. But not everything is as black and white as that. I think it’s the idea that maybe, as a unit and as a group, there’s a strength there. And the individual alone cannot win. Which is metaphorically an interesting way of looking at it. But I just think she got lucky.”

Although Bower insinuates that Eleven may have been lucky in regard to her battle with Vecna, the actor understands the fact that Eleven has a strong group of friends who helped her overcome a more powerful foe. While Vecna had Eleven up against a wall with tentacles slowly choking her, Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), and newcomer Argyle (Eduardo Franco) stood beside her body in the distant pizza parlor with Mike speaking to her. Mike expressed his love for her while encouraging her to continue to fight. It was this motivation that helped her refocus and find a power that she may have thought was long lost within her.

Bower rightly reasons that the help of Eleven’s friends allowed her to subdue Vecna. By breaking free of Vecna’s grasp, she saved Max but also freed Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), and Robin Buckely (Maya Hawke), giving them a chance to inflict the crucial devastating blows on the villain. Although Bower may have been slightly off the mark by implying that luck played a significant factor in the fight, he correctly detailed that it was the strength of the group that defeated Vecna in the Stranger Things season 4 finale.