Stranger Things' two-part season 4 introduced the series' most effective villain to date with Vecna. After three seasons of emotionless monsters terrorizing the heroes of the show, Vecna was a fresh approach with a figure that could communicate directly with the characters and who had clear motivations. He also proved to be a deadly foe with multiple characters falling under Vecna's curse, tormented by their darkness thoughts until he brutally kills them. However, Nancy Wheeler was one character who was able to escape his wrath due to the Stranger Things writers giving an anti-climatic resolution to her run-in with Vecna.
Vecna Letting Nancy Go Easily Was Pointless
Stranger Things season 4, volume 1 ends with the ominous warning that Nancy Wheeler is the next victim of Henry Creel, otherwise known as One and Vecna. Seeing into his mind, Nancy witnesses Henry's transformation into Vecna, after Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) banished him to the Upside Down at the Hawkins Lab nearly a decade earlier. However, Nancy is freed by Vecna within the first five minutes of volume 2, with instructions for her to tell Eleven what he has planned for Hawkins. Nancy wakes up to see Steve and is never affected by the curse again, despite Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink) escaping Vecna only to again be attacked by him later on.
This inconsitency has been one of the biggest criticisms of the Stranger Things writer's approach. It feels out of character for Vecna to let Nancy go so easily, demonstrating that Stranger Things simply uses Henry's attack as a way to end volume 1 on a cliffhanger. Nancy is shown to have never been in any real danger, as Stranger Things rapidly rushes through her escape from Henry/One/Vecna before the opening credits even roll at the start of episode 8. It is clear that Vecna's assault on Nancy is used simply to increase tension and anticipation for volume 2, and the Duffer Brothers never had any intention of killing Dyer's character.
Nancy's Survival Proves Stranger Things 5 Must Kill Main Characters
The ease with which Nancy escapes Vecna's curse slightly undercuts Stranger Things' big bad's menacing presence. Moreover, it illustrates the series' ongoing issue with refusing to kill its main characters. While newly introduced side characters like Bob Newby, Dr. Alexei, and in season 4's Eddie Munson all end up dying, leads like Nancy are always safe. This "main character plot armor" is made even more apparent by Jim Hopper's fake-out death at the end of season 3 and now Max's survival despite being blinded and having her limbs brutally broken by Vecna. Stranger Things season 5 must commit to serious stakes if the series is to end on a high note, and this means killing off beloved main characters like Nancy and Steve.
Vecna's attack on Nancy is also likely a direct reference to A Nightmare on Elm Street. As Henry Creel is an obvious homage to Vecna inspiration Freddy Krueger, with Freddy actor Robert Englund even portraying his father, the Duffer Brothers likely included this scene purely to have a Freddy-like character chase a woman named Nancy through a dream-world. Whatever the reason for its inclusion, though, the tease that Nancy was Vecna's next victim proves that it would be more compelling if Stranger Things let its main characters die, instead of constantly letting them survive unbelievable situations, undercutting its own dramatic tension.
There Are A Lot of Options For Season 5 Deaths
The Stranger Things writers might be a little shy about killing off their main characters, and some of the most shocking deaths turned out to be relatively — and irritatingly — inconsequential. However, with season 5 of Stranger Things being the end of the story, they are not likely to hold back as much for this final showdown. The end of Stranger Things season 4 teased the barrier between the Upside Down and the real world being opened setting the stage for Vecna to entire the real Hawkins and do some damage, and there are a lot of potential victims among the main cast.
The fate of Max remains uncertain, but it seems unlikely the Stranger Things writers would kill her off after she had such a close brush with death already. Though Hopper also recently came back from a supposed death, there is a strong possibility he could die a hero's death. Vecna's main target would be Eleven, and it is possible that she could die saving the world, bringing her arc as a tragic hero full circle. There's also intense speculation that Will is likely to die in Stranger Things. His connection to the Upside Down and his increasingly heartbreaking story could definitely be brought to a harrowing conclusion by the Stranger Things writers to drive the emotional stakes of the show, after all.
