Fans of Stranger Things are eagerly awaiting the second part of the three-part series finale, which will be released on Christmas Day, December 25, 2025. Rumors are already flying about what will happen by the end, but one overarching theory is that there could be a redemption arc for the series’ biggest villain, Vecna, a.k.a. Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower).
This was hinted at by Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers, when he told TV Guide in an interview that Vecna was the most misunderstood character on the show. Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven, quickly shut him down before he could reveal any more. But that hasn’t stopped speculation that Vecna’s story will take a turn. Solidifying this theory is the New York City Broadway play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which serves as Henry’s prequel story.
The Broadway Play is Canon, And Says A Lot
The Broadway play, which I had the pleasure of seeing, has been confirmed to be canon with the series. It’s based on a short story written by the Duffer Brothers, meant to explain what happened to Henry in the years prior to becoming an evil vessel for the Mind Flayer, as well as during his early time in high school. At that time, he apparently knew many of the kids’ parents, including both Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Hopper (David Harbour).
“It’s totally canon,” confirms Kate Trefy, the play’s writer who also writes for the series, to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s totally tied into the series with seasons one through four, but also reaching into the future with season five. It had to be this missing puzzle piece that connects all of these different things.”
At the core of the play, which is set in Hawkins in 1959 shortly after Henry moves there with his family, is the story of Henry coming to terms with these awful powers he can’t control. The play provides context in that the portal to the Upside Down was opened years prior by a team of government workers who were trying to develop technology to render a ship invisible. One of the workers was later discovered to be a Russian spy. After the project went bust and everyone perished but for one survivor (Dr. Martin Brenner’s father), it was learned that this spy hid some of the technology in a cave. As a little boy, Henry came across it, accidentally activated it, and was lost in the Upside Down for months, becoming possessed by the Mind Flayer, which changed him completely.
The first hint that this storyline will be explored in the final season of Stranger Things, leading to an insane Stranger Things finale theory, is when Max (Sadie Sink) reveals to Holly (Nell Fisher) that she has been residing in a cave in Henry’s mind that he refuses to enter. It’s clearly the very same cave mentioned in the play that changed him. However, Henry’s desire not to enter, perhaps even his inability to do so, suggests that the real Henry is still in there somewhere. He never wanted any of this to happen. But it isn’t him doing it. It’s the Mind Flayer.
The First Shadow Paints Henry as Completely Misunderstood
Throughout Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Henry is portrayed as an awkward teenage boy at a coming-of-age period in his life. He’s just trying to fit in and acclimate to a new school. His instant friendship and eventual romance with Patty, who is revealed to be Bob’s (Sean Astin) sister, suggests that while he’s under the Mind Flayer’s spell, much like Will has been all this time, the real boy still exists inside.
In every instance when Henry uses his powers, it gets out of hand, and he’s overtaken by the Mind Flayer. He can’t help what he’s doing, whether it’s murdering animals in the town or eventually, his own mother and sister. While Patty has clear affections for him, she pushes him to use his gift when she realizes he might be able to help her find her biological mother. All Henry wants to do is be a regular kid, but he can’t. He even joins the school play, as referenced in the flashback scene in Stranger Things Season 5, Part 1, where his name is noted on the flyer that a young Joyce is seen handing out to students.
What’s more, Dr. Brenner (Matthew Modine) is portrayed as the true villain in the play, even eliciting audible boos from the audience when he arrives on stage. He gets wind of Henry’s powers and offers to help when, really, he wants to use Henry as his lab rat. We know from both the play and Season 4 of the series that Brenner ran various tests on Henry, eventually using his rare blood type to breed a new generation of kids with special powers, Eleven being one of them.
Henry’s final straw is when Brenner arrives at the school to kill Patty, realizing that she’s getting in the way of their progress because of Henry’s feelings for her. In his state of anger, which brings out the Mind Flayer, Henry seriously harms Patty. He’s made to feel as though he’s a monster, and Dr. Brenner is the only one who can save him. He’s with papa now.
The Revenge Story Could Play Into the End
It’s evident, then, that Henry isn’t really the villain. He’s just a young boy who was taken over and controlled by a force much powerful than him. Will could have suffered this same fate, but he has his family and friends around him to help pull him away from the Mind Flayer. Henry had no one. While he did have Patty for a time, Dr. Brenner made sure to emotionally manipulate Henry so he felt that he was the only person who cared about him. The play is enough to make you feel horrible for Henry, maybe even understand why he has become the way he has.
Another theory the play suggests is that Henry’s motivations, whether driven by his own grief or pushed by the Mind Flayer, are to get revenge. His father survived his attack but was accused of killing all the animals in town, as well as his wife and daughter. The crucial bit of information relating to this is that it’s largely due to investigations by Joyce and Hopper, who, with Bob’s help, traced the odd signals causing the deaths back to the Creel House. His father Victor may have been the only one who could have saved Henry, but he was taken away. Meanwhile, the other kids at the high school who are still alive were less than nice to him.
There’s one scene in the play when Henry tells Joyce that she’ll eventually get what she deserves, and this directly points to his potential reason for choosing Will as a first victim. Not only does Will likely remind him of himself, but he’s also the son of the woman who played a pivotal role in ruining his life by accusing his father of doing heinous things.
Given that much of Henry’s actions are likely driven by emotion, and the Mind Flayer tends to prey on those who live with guilt and shame, it’s possible that some of the main characters will figure out a way to get through to him, just as they did Will. By the end of the play, Patty is still alive, though she walks with a cane and traveled to Las Vegas to reunite with her mother. At some point, there has to be a glimmer of recognition for Joyce, Hopper, and the others when they learn that the man behind the creepy Vecna armor is Henry Creel, a boy they went to school with. Could Joyce be the one to snap him out of it?
Let’s also not forget that while Victor gouged his own eyes out in a fit of madness after being accused of murder and knowing what his son did, he is still very much alive and institutionalized, played by Robert Englund in the series. There are also both Eleven and Kali (Linnea Berthelsen), the latter of whom made a surprise appearance in Part 1, and both of whom Henry has known since they were little. They were created from his blood, so while they are sisters, they are also his brothers. He must feel some sense of shame and guilt for what they have gone through, and some level of attachment to them.
It might be far-fetched to imagine an end where Henry gets full redemption. But the seeds have been planted in Stranger Things: The First Shadow to create a sense of emotional connection for fans who have watched or read about the story. After doing so, you can’t help but see Henry under the facade of Vecna. He may seem like he’s hellbent on creating a new world and using innocent children to do it, much like was done to him. But he isn’t the one in control, and hasn’t been for a long time.
The look on Henry’s face when he approaches the cave and sees Max inside, in one of the most important Easter Eggs in Part 1, speaks volumes. It harkens back to the teenager who just wanted to fit in, wanted to stop harming people, but couldn’t shake the control the Mind Flayer had over him. He’s still that little boy inside, and chances are that before the series is over, we’ll get to see the real Henry Creel again.
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