Spoiler alert for information below.
According to Variety, Jamie Campbell Bower (Witchboard, Urban Myths) has taken inspiration for Vecna, or in this case, Mr. Whatsit, from one of the most infamous cult leaders of modern history, Jim Jones. Bower’s character is often menacing, but in this season, he must be manipulative in order to fulfill his plans.
“Jim Jones was an early reference for me,” Bower stated. “He was on the mood board, even with regard to certain things that he’s saying when the kids are all in front of him. There were points where I thought, ‘Do I say the word “you” or do I use the word “we”? We’re a family now.’ That’s really grim! It totally can remove the idea of autonomy, so definitely there had to be that level of cult leader-esqueness about him,” via Varierty.
Variety has reported that Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple, whose activities culminated in the death of more than 900 followers at the Jonestown compound in Guyana.
According to Variety, the way he prepared for season five is in stark contrast to his preparation for the previous season.
“What you saw in Season 4 happened, and it was real. This is very much like, how nice can I be to these poor children to make them feel as comfortable as possible in this world? And how much of my experience am I burying within that? And it’s always a really terrifying prospect when you’re sat opposite another actor, and your intentions are so deeply buried,” he says. “There’s a level of real dishonesty in that, and that’s really scary. It’s really hard, particularly opposite a child,” he continued via Variety.
According to Variety, Bower has attempted to find the humanity within the villain. The character becomes more difficult to justify as he drifts deeper into wrongdoing.
“There’s definitely a humanity that I can see,” Bower says. “How much of that is portrayed in this volume is open for discussion and interpretation — there’s definitely trauma and experience that is present but unexplored at this point,” via Variety.
According to Variety, the prequel stage play focuses heavily on Vecna or Henry Creel’s backstory. Creel was deeply changed by his childhood experience in the cave in which Max and Holly eventually take shelter. After discovering his roots, Bower begged the Duffer Brothers to give him more bits and pieces of his character’s backstory.
“It was something that I really felt like I had to pry out of Matt and Ross Duffer. They weren’t wildly forthcoming with that, because obviously, they wanted to protect it, but it was important for me to know what that was and why that was the case,” he says. “So, it was just a question of taking with me what I’d learned from the play, and then also just being irritating and asking questions,” via Variety.
According to Variety, in this season, Max and Holly stumble upon the mine shaft where Henry was changed forever. In Henry’s memory, he kills a man holding a briefcase after the man threatens and shoots him with a gun. When asked what was inside the briefcase, Bower responded only with “reason.
Variety has reported that Bower continued on what is to come. “The end of 7 is an incredible setup for what is to come. And if you think you know what is to come at the beginning of 8, you’re probably wrong,” Bower says. “It really does blow the fuck up. Whatever you think you know will be exceeded.”