Stranger Things Finale Almost Ended With a Much Darker Vecna Twist

Stranger Things 5 stuck the landing without pulling a last-second heel turn for its big bad. But the Duffers seriously considered it. And not just any pivot — they almost gave Vecna a full-on 'Darth Vader' moment.

What the Duffers almost did — and why they didn't

In a chat with Netflix's Tudum, Matt and Ross Duffer said they kicked around an ending where Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) flips on the Mind Flayer at the eleventh hour. Think Billy's self-sacrifice in Season 3 (Dacre Montgomery), but scaled up for the endgame. It was a very 'what if Vader helped the Rebels' kind of brainstorming.

• The what-if: Vecna redeems himself and turns his power on the Mind Flayer, a deliberate echo of Billy's last stand and a classic Vader-style reversal.
• Why they bailed: After talking it through in the writers room and with Bower, they decided Henry Creel has gone too far to walk it back. He needs to justify every horrible thing he's done — which means doubling down, not switching sides, even after a memory in the finale rattles him.
• The intended gray area: The Duffers wanted viewers to wrestle with whether young Henry chose this path or got steered by the Mind Flayer from the start. That ambiguity stays. But end result? He picks a side.
• How it plays in the finale: In Season 5, Episode 8, Will (Noah Schnapp) tries to reach whatever is left of Henry, tells him it's not too late. Vecna shuts it down, flat-out saying he chose the Mind Flayer — so no redemption, by his own admission.

'We wanted to leave it up to the audience in terms of whether young Henry did choose this or whether it was simply the Mind Flayer controlling him from beginning to end. But ultimately, in terms of where Henry goes, it doesn't matter because he chooses the side of the Mind Flayer at the end of the day.'

That last piece is the key: the show lets you debate the origin of Henry's corruption, but it doesn't wobble on his final choice. The Duffers flirted with the crowd-pleasing twist, then decided it undercut the character they built. Right call. A sudden face turn only works if there's something left to save, and Vecna left that version of Henry in the rearview a long time ago.