The first volume of the fourth season of “Very Strange Cases” presents Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) as a new nightmarish antagonist seeking to destroy Hawkins and terrorize teenagers. But did he bring Will back to the first season of “Very Strange Things”? Vecna, Freddy Krueger of Hawkins, prays for the emotional weakness of his victims, tormenting them before committing suicide. Although the 4th season of “Very Strange Cases” is his first official appearance in the series, it may not be the first time that Vecna threatens the city from under his feet.
In the very first episode of the TV series “Very Strange Things”, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) disappears. It is later revealed that Will has been transported to an Inverted, harsh and inhospitable alternate dimension that exists parallel to Earth. Will was stuck there trying to survive, and it was in the Underside that the Mind-Flayer, who has complete control over the Underside, became interested in Will. “Very Strange Things”, Season 4, Episode 7, “The Hawkins Lab Massacre”, reveals that Vecna has been on the wrong side ever since Al (Millie Bobby Brown) sends him there after he reveals himself as number one, killing children and employees in the lab. As a result, this means that Vecna is in an upside-down position when Will is trying to survive there, despite the fact that she was not revealed to the public at the time.
If Dustin’s (Gaten Matarazzo) theory is correct and “Vecna is a five—star general of Mind Catchers”, probably Vecna has existed since the first season and is involved in Will’s disappearance. When Vecna arrives to pick up her victims in season 4 of Very Strange Cases, the grandfather clock strikes, acting as an omen of death. Interestingly, the clock can be heard right before Will is picked up in the season 1 episode “The Disappearance of Will Byers” as he rides home on his bike. When Will sees a mysterious otherworldly figure, which may well be Vecna, he falls down the hill, and you can hear the clock of Vecna. This is not the only clock that can be heard before season 4. Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery) meets the Mind Catcher in Season 3, episode 2, “Rats at the Mall”, after crashing his car. When he runs to the phone booth to call for help, the clock strikes — and it sounds eerily similar to the grandfather clock that announces the Funeral. All this evidence suggests that Vecna not only actively claimed victims in Hawkins for many years, but also that he was directly involved in Will’s disappearance back in the first season of “Very Strange Cases”.
The Demogorgon was originally supposed to be the entity that took Will, but the Demogorgon is a wild animal that hunts and kills its prey. It’s unlikely that the Demogorgon kidnapped Will and didn’t devour him. While in the Wrong Side, Will hears sounds and growls reminiscent of Demogorgon when he hides in the barn, but the Duffer brothers have already introduced many retcons in season 4 of “Very Strange Things”, changing the story of the Wrong Side. This means that while the growl was probably originally intended for a Demogorgon, it may no longer be the case.
The Duffer brothers said that Vecna was always part of their “Very Strange Things” plan, even if “[they] took time to tell this story.” It is reported that at the request of Netflix, the couple had a 25-page document outlining the entire mythology of Inverted, and this document also details the history of Vecna. This story “fully informs about what is happening in the present” (via Tudum). The Duffer brothers probably planted the seeds of Vecna, the number one in Hawkins’ lab, from the very first episode, which again makes his involvement in Will’s disappearance more likely.
As a result, Vecna was part of the myths of “Very Strange Things” even before the show began, and it was his cruelty and misuse of his powers that led to the connection between the Wrong Side and the Right Side Up in the first place. Will’s disappearance, marked by the striking of the grandfather clock, runs parallel to the clock that Vekna’s victims hear. “Very Strange Things,” Season 4, Volume 2, is likely to be the chapter that reveals Vekna’s full past-a past that may have included Will’s return in season 1.
