Why Is Vecna Scared of the Cave in Stranger Things? How the Broadway Play Spoils the Plot Twist
Stranger Things Season 5 is finally out, and while some cliffhangers were answered during Volume 1, it still leaves lots of questions about some main characters. Vecna may be the big bad beast that’s in charge of the Upside Down, but there’s one fear that he can’t get rid of.
Max’s (Sadie Sink) whereabouts is finally known in Volume 1 of Stranger Things Season 5. In the physical world, she’s in a comatose state after being nearly killed by the monster ruler of the Upside Down. However, it’s revealed that she’s been in Vecna’s mind and takes refuge in a cave that Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) refuses to enter. It saves her for now, but why is someone so scary like Vecna afraid of the cave?
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Why is Vecna afraid of the cave?
Vecna has a traumatic response to the caves. In the West End and Broadway play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Henry Creel’s backstory is explored. After stumbling into caves as a young boy in Nevada, he tampered with some technology and was transported to Dimension X (an earlier version of the Upside Down). It was his first time in the scary place, and though he was there for only 12 hours, it made him one of Dr. Brenner’s targets for experimentation.
Ever since the inception of the play, the Duffer Brothers were keen to put more elements of Henry’s backstory in the show. “There was always a balance that we had to find in terms of how much we were going to put in the play,” Matt Duffer told Variety. “[The director] Stephen [Daldry] and [the producer] Sonia [Friedman] were always pushing for more and we were pushing back and saying, ‘Well, we have to wait to reveal that in the show.’ You’ll see, especially as you reach the final episode, there’s more overlap with the play.”
However, they assure that you don’t need any prior knowledge to see what unfolds ahead. “But you absolutely do not have to have seen the play to understand,” Matt says. “They’re Easter eggs more than anything.”
We won’t see a shortage of Henry Creel’s memories, though. Volume Two of Season 5 is set to show more of the monster’s backstory. “That’s what we call our new Russia storyline, because it’s very few characters,” Matt revealed. “They’re kind of isolated off on their own, Max and Holly. We’re very happy with how it integrates with the other storylines.”
