Stanger Things creators explain why Vecna has a snatched waist in season 5

3 December 2025, 12:13 | Updated: 4 December 2025, 16:19

By Sam Prance

Fans are losing it over Vecna's extreme makeover in Stranger Things 5 and there's an important reason behind it.

Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers have revealed the real reason behind Vecna's change in appearance.

Ever since Stranger Things 4 came out, fans have been equally obsessed with and terrified by Vecna. In the show, we learn that Eleven created the Upside Down and banished Vecna there. Vecna then transformed it into the unsettling dimension we know it as today. In Stranger Things 4, Vecna comes face to face with our favourite characters.

Fast forward to Stranger Things 5 and Vecna looks a little bit different. He still rocks his classic look of muscle, roots and vines but fans have spotted that his waist is tinier then ever and he's even more built and muscular. So why has Vecna had a season 5 makeover? Here's what the Duffer Brothers have said about Vecna's new look.

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In Stranger Things 5, we don't see Vecna until episode 4 and fans have been losing it over how different he looks.

On Reddit, someone wrote: "Okay while I realize Vecna was never a healthy looking fella, this is pretty next level!!! You can see organs, his arms are just bones wrapped in vines.. he’s like an animated corpse. I wonder if they actually did kill him in s4 he’s fully flayed in s5?"

Meanwhile on X/Twitter, a fan said: "vecna coming back with a snatched waist wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card."

Another added: "I wonder, why does Vecna look so different? The branches on his shoulder? Slimmer waist?"

Someone also wrote: "like girl pls send tips, is bbl or ozempic a thing in the upside down?"

Speaking to Variety, Matt and Ross Duffer said that it was important for Vecna to "look good" after almost being killed off in season 4. ‘looking good’ after he was almost killed at the end of last season. Matt revealed: "The idea of it was based a little bit on the original ‘Hellraiser,’ although it’s different than that."

Adding context, he said: "He retreated to lick his wounds. Nancy blew holes all through his body, so he more or less rebuilt his body into something stronger and hopefully cooler.”

As for how they filmed, Matt added: "We ultimately had to go full CGI on his body [...] you see holes throughout his body. It was figuring out that balance took a long time."

Matt then insisted that while Jamie Campbell Bower films in a "leotard", "his face is totally him, just in makeup. We don’t touch that at all. That’s fully Jamie."

Read more about Stranger Things here:

• Stranger Things 5 spoilers explain why Henry is scared of the cave
• Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard responds to theories that Will and Mike end up together
• Who dies in Stranger Things 5 Volume 1? All the deaths in order
• Stranger Things creators explain why they're hesitant to kill off main characters
• Who is Holly in Stranger Things 5? Nell Fisher's age, past roles and where she's from

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WSQK The Squawk: The Stranger Things radio station that's always turned up to 11! Listen now on Global Player, thanks to Netflix UK.