Stranger Things 5: Vol. 1 leaves off with that stare-down between Vecna and Will, and now Jamie Campbell Bower has weighed in on exactly what we saw and why it matters. Short version: the show just pulled a big, long-teased thread on Will Byers, and it is not what a lot of people assumed.
Vecna and Will: what really happened (and why)
Talking to ScreenRant, Bower straight-up says Vecna is the reason Will vanished back in Season 1. According to him, Vecna sent Demogorgons to snatch Will because Will is one of 12 kids he needs to complete his hive mind. That agenda has been running in the background for years.
Cut to the Vol. 1 finale: Will unlocks telekinetic abilities and turns the tide, using those powers to save Lucas from a Demogorgon. Then he goes full white-eyed, telekinetically wipes out multiple Demogorgons, and gets that single nosebleed we usually associate with Eleven. Big swing, big statement.
Bower: now Vecna is fighting two people, not one
Bower says his whole empathetic approach to playing Vecna actually made him feel slightly frustrated when Will momentarily shut the villain down. But he’s also into where it pushes the story:
"I think it is very, very exciting to now almost have two adversaries rather than just one."
He adds that Will becomes more of a vexation as things go on, and that Will’s new abilities are a byproduct of the connection between Will and Vecna. So it’s not random; it’s the link.
Important clarification: Will is not a second Eleven
The Duffer Brothers are clear on this. Matt Duffer explains that Will is channeling Vecna’s powers, which lets him access and use them if he’s close enough. Ross Duffer says this reveal was on the board all the way back in Season 2. In other words, this wasn’t a late-game remix; it’s the plan finally paying off.
Noah Schnapp found out mid-script and trained for it
In Entertainment Weekly, Noah Schnapp says he didn’t know about the twist until he read the script for Episode 4, 'Sorcerer.' His immediate reaction to his assistant: 'I have powers!' For the finale, he trained to make Will’s movement language its own thing, modeling it after a silverback gorilla so it wouldn’t look like Eleven’s signature gestures.
For anyone keeping track of the cross-talk between outlets: Bower’s comments come via ScreenRant, and Schnapp’s via Entertainment Weekly. The development was originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.