Originally appeared on E! Online
There’s something upside down about Vecna’s new look.
The “Stranger Things” villain played by Jamie Campbell Bower made his return during the first volume of the Netflix show’s fifth and final season, and had fans asking what waist?
Amid all the chatter surrounding the new look, Bower is sharing his secrets.
After a fan on X wrote, “I wonder, why does Vecna look so different? The branches on his shoulder? Slimmer waist.” Bower quipped back in the replies, “Zumba.”
After being burned and beaten by Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) at the end of season four, Vecna — formally Henry Creel — returned to terrify the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, with noticeably longer vines on his shoulders, and head, with remnants of his injuries from the previous season. And while he appeared broad everywhere else, he is noticeably smaller than when he was first introduced last season.
For the 37-year-old, Vecna’s transformation — which comes after an eight-hour makeup and prosthetics process— is the perfect representation of his reign of terror.
READ How the Stranger Things Cast Leveled Up Over the Years
“Well, as we saw at the end of season four, Vecna suffered a fall and obviously was sort of almost burned alive,” Jamie said in an interview with Screen Rant published Nov. 28. “My understanding of it is that the reason he looks the way he does now is a byproduct of partly of that process. And also, just having spent more time, not in the human world as it were.”
He added, “He’s become more resentful and hideous within that process and part of the world in which he was thrown into.”
“I speak about this often,” he added. “But adding extra layers and extra things onto the suit to make sure that when I was stepping onto set, that that sort of presence was felt.”
Prior to fans seeing his new look, Jamie teased Vecna’s season five return with the release of the final trailer. In an Oct. 30 Instagram post which shows Vecna walking in the Upside Down, the Sweeney Todd alum wrote, “At long last, we can begin.@strangerthingstv Hi x.”
Stranger Things Vol. 1 is out now with Vol. 2 releasing Dec. 25 and the finale releasing Dec. 31.
Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin on the hit Netflix show “Stranger Things”, was introduced to a one-year-old boy who was named after him.
