The Duffer brothers ended the most recent Stranger Things run by perfectly setting up the final confrontation between Eleven and Vecna, a literal foreshadowing of the events to come with dark clouds looming over the sky of Hawkins.
While that little tease is enough to keep the fandom’s hype levels up for the foreseeable future — or at least until the crew finishes work on the final outing — the community has recently put forth an interesting alternate take on the reunion between El and Hopper, one that results in a much darker and suspenseful ending for the fourth season.
So, imagine this: The Vecna has seemingly been defeated, though at a great cost. Will proclaims that the big bad is still around, and there’s a massive hole dividing the town into four pieces. The Hawkins gang is regrouping and Eleven is beaten down, feeling guilty for not being able to save Max. And then, in comes Hopper, and for a moment, it feels like everything is going to be fine… Except, is that really Hopper?
This What if…? scenario implies that Eleven will be Vecna’s next victim. And who even knows what is the young heroine’s favorite song to save her from the villain’s clutches?
Stranger Things has traumatized us so much that some fans actually thought this was going to happen.
Yes, it might seem too cruel at first glance, but we can’t deny it would’ve been one hell of a cliffhanger to end things on.
Fortunately, the show still has plenty of opportunities to incorporate jumpscares of that nature.
Stranger Things season 5 is currently under pre-production.