Cast Jamie Campbell Bower as Freddy Krueger Already

Stranger Things borrowed a lot from A Nightmare on Elm Street on purpose, so it was only a matter of time before fans started asking the obvious: should Jamie Campbell Bower take a swing at Freddy Krueger for real?

Why this even makes sense

From the moment Vecna crashed into season 4, the Duffer Brothers admitted they were riffing on Freddy. They singled out Elm Street 1 and 3 as big touchstones for that season, and when they were hyping up season 5, they promised an even nastier version of the villain.

They said Vecna would be 'like Freddy on steroids.'

With Stranger Things now wrapped and Vecna presumably done, a bunch of viewers have started treating Bower's turn as a dry run for the glove and fedora. It does not hurt that Robert Englund himself (the Freddy we all grew up with) showed up on the show as Victor Creel, a.k.a. Vecna's dad. The Duffers were basically waving a neon sign.

Does Bower fit the glove?

On paper, yes. Freddy is a scarred, supernatural nightmare-stalker who toys with your fears. Vecna is a scarred, supernatural mind-wrecker haunting the Upside Down, exploiting what breaks you. Give Vecna the hat, sweater, and razors, and you are 80% there. The other 20% is attitude: Freddy cracks jokes and revels in the theatrics. Bower proved he can go full monster; if he loosens up and sprinkles in some dark humor, you can see it.

The catch: would he even want it? Going from one iconic horror ghoul to another could feel like running the same play twice. He could absolutely pull it off, but it would not be shocking if he took a pass.

The Freddy handoff is not simple

Replacing Robert Englund is notoriously tricky. Jackie Earle Haley tried in the 2010 remake, and the reaction was... not warm. The brand is picky about who wears that burn makeup. And even if Bower were game, there is a bigger snag: the franchise itself is stuck in rights limbo.

• Back in September 2019, word was that Wes Craven's estate had secured the Elm Street rights.
• By November 2019, the chatter was that they were actively hearing pitches.
• Then things got murky. The rights picture is apparently not as straightforward as it sounded.
• Mike Flanagan says he has a take ready, but even his agent cannot figure out who exactly to pitch it to.
• Elijah Wood and his SpectreVision partner Daniel Noah have repeatedly reached out to whoever holds the keys and still have not moved the ball.
• Jason Blum has publicly kicked the tires on Elm Street from the Blumhouse side.
• Guy Busick (who co-wrote Scream 2022 and Scream VI) wants a crack at Elm Street and Friday the 13th.
• Despite all that interest, there is zero concrete movement on a new Nightmare on Elm Street movie right now.
• If and when Freddy does wake up, other actors who have said they would be up for it include Devon Sawa, Sung Kang, and Kevin Bacon.

So... Bower or someone else?

Bower checks a lot of boxes and already proved he can carry a franchise-level boogeyman. Whether he wants to be the guy, and whether the franchise can untangle itself enough to hire anyone, are the real hurdles. If the legal dust ever settles, I would not mind seeing him try on the glove. Then again, Sawa, Kang, and Bacon would each take the character in a very different (and interesting) direction.

Who do you want slicing up the dreamscape next?