Stranger Things (2016-2025) is one of Netflix’s most successful original series. Currently, there are four seasons of this incredible sci-fi horror show, with its fifth and final season premiering on November 26, 2025. Stranger Things has run into production issues multiple times over the course of its four seasons, like the Covid-19 pandemic and the Writers’ Guild of America Strike, which is why it’s taken nine years to put out so few seasons. That said, the quality of the show never faltered because of the attention to detail demonstrated by the creators.
One such detail actually happens in the very first episode of the series, Season 1, Episode 1, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers.” As the title suggests, this episode focuses on one of the main characters, Will Byers, disappearing after leaving a Dungeons & Dragons game at his friend’s house. Most of the season focuses on Will’s disappearance, alleged death, and rescue. Will’s disappearance is peculiar due to the seemingly supernatural circumstances surrounding his death, but most fans missed the most important thing about his kidnapping.
Stranger Things Season 1 Introduces the Demogorgon & the Upside Down
Eleven facing a Demogorgon in Stranger Things.Image via Netflix
Many Stranger Things fans regard the very first season as the best season the series has to offer, and there are a lot of amazing qualities to Season 1 that back up the claim. One of the best parts about Season 1 is the emotional turmoil felt throughout the cast after Will Byers’ disappearance. In Season 1, Will is 12 years old. He lives in Hawkins, Indiana, a small, Midwestern town that, for the most part, is completely safe. The series also takes place in the 1980s, during a period of time when parents weren’t afraid to let their kids wander off on their own, especially in tight-knit communities.
Will’s disappearance hits most of the main cast hard. Will’s best friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, are all devastated when they learn that Will is missing, especially since they were all with him the night that he disappeared. Before Will’s disappearance, the four of them were playing D&D in Mike’s basement. Will rode home on his bike after the game, and that was the last time anyone ever saw him. Viewers also see the toll Will’s disappearance has on Joyce, his single mother, and Jonathan, his older brother. Both are torn apart, with Joyce quickly spiraling out of control.
Things escalate in “Chapter Four: The Body,” when Will Byers’ body is pulled out of the local quarry. This seems to confirm that Will’s disappearance led to his death, but Joyce is unconvinced that the body is real. She seems absolutely unhinged. Even Jonathan believes she’s losing her mind, but it turns out that Joyce was right. Will’s body was a cover-up from the Hawkins National Laboratory.
In reality, Will was taken by a creature from an alternate dimension called a Demogorgon. The Demogorgon comes from a place the main cast call the Upside Down, a parallel world that mirrors Hawkins. As it turns out, Hawkins Lab is responsible for opening a rift between Hawkins and the Upside Down. That rift is what allowed the Demogorgon to slip into Hawkins. That puts the lab at fault for Will’s disappearance, which is what leads them to cover it up by creating a fake body.
Everything fans see in “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” suggests that the Demogorgon is the one who kidnaps Will and takes him to the Upside Down. After Season Four and the introduction of Vecna, re-watching Season One will actually reveal that Vecna was in the very first episode. According to a very popular fan theory, Vecna wasn’t just in the first episode of Stranger Things; he was also the real culprit who kidnapped Will.
Season Four Introduces Vecna as the Overarching Antagonist
Image via Netflix
Vecna, also known as Henry Creel or Number One, is first introduced in Season Four as the main villain, not just of the season, but of the entire series. Before Venca’s introduction, the main cast believed the Mind Flayer, a massive monster from the Upside Down, was the culprit behind everything happening in Hawkins. Season Four confirmed that it was Vecna who had actually been manipulating the Mind Flayer and the rest of the monsters from the Upside Down all along.
Before he became Vecna, he was a human boy named Henry Creel. Henry, like Eleven, possessed special abilities that allowed him to manipulate people’s memories and perception of the world. Henry Creel became Number One, and he was the boy from whom all the other special children were created, including Eleven. Eleven eventually banished him to the Upside Down, where he comes face-to-face with the Mind Flayer and the many other creatures that thrive in this place. Henry is also the reason that the Upside Down takes the shape of Hawkins, because it is shaping itself around Henry’s memories.
Henry’s journey into the Upside Down causes him serious mutations, changing him into the monstrous creature known as Vecna. He also creates a psychic link to the Mind Flayer, allowing him to control and manipulate the Mind Flayer and every creature connected to it through the hive mind they share. This includes the Demogorgon from Season 1, every other Demogorgon we’ve seen throughout the series, the Demobats, and the Spider Monster from Season 3.
In this way, Vecna was always behind Will’s disappearance. Since he had been pulling the strings since the very beginning, he was also the one who arranged for Will’s kidnapping in the first place. Many fans believe that he simply sent the Demogorgon from Season 1 to kidnap Will, but according to this popular fan theory, it might have actually been Vecna himself.
S1E1 Has a Lot of Evidence to Suggest Vecna Actually Made an Appearance
Will Byers is spooked by something in the woods in Stranger Things Season 1.Image via Netflix
To be fair, most fans would not notice the hints that Vecna was present in “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” unless they go back to re-watch Season 1 after watching Season 4. Season 4 is the season where pieces of the puzzle really start to fit together. Eleven’s connection to the Upside Down, Number One becoming Vecna, and the reason the Upside Down has become so fixated on Hawkins are all explained in Season 4. Once fans have all the information from Season 4, the earlier seasons begin to make even more sense.
This includes Will’s disappearance in the very first episode of Season 1. While it is still plausible that Vecna simply ordered the Demogorgon to kidnap Will and bring him back to the Upside Down, there is a lot of evidence that suggests it was Vecna himself. One of the earliest signs is the Demogorgon’s behavior before taking Will. The Demogorgon stalks Will, carefully following him, observing him, and waiting for the best time to take him.
As we learn in later seasons, this is extremely abnormal behavior for Demogorgons in general. Demogorgons are hunters. They don’t really stalk prey with the intention of keeping said prey alive, nor do they focus on a specific person. Demogorgons are quick to attack, usually going for the kill, like an animal hunting for food. This could easily indicate that Vecna might have been the one stalking Will instead, especially since a lot of the shots we get of the Demogorgon are shrouded in shadows. When standing at full height, the Demogorgon and Vecna have somewhat similar silhouettes, making it possible that the audience is actually mistaking Vecna for the Demogorgon in the shadows.
Not only does the Demogorgon specifically seek out and find Will, but it also follows Will all the way back to his house. This alone isn’t enough to prove that it’s Vecna instead of a Demogorgon, but when it reaches Will’s house, the next scene might shock fans. The door to Will’s house is locked with a chain bolt latch. When the Demogorgon approaches, the latch unlocks itself as a result of telepathy. Demogorgons aren’t telepathic, so this scene is actually very strange. Vecna, however, does possess this power, much like Eleven does.
The evidence to support the theory that Vecna is actually the one to take Will in S1E1 doesn’t stop there, either. When Will falls off his bike, if fans listen closely, they can hear the ominous chime of a grandfather clock. Originally, this just seemed like a spooky part of the episode’s score to help increase the suspense. Season 4, however, confirms that the clock chime is an indication that Vecna is near and actively using his abilities.
The most compelling piece of evidence comes from Will himself, though. When Will was asked about his time in the Upside Down and how he survived, he said he hummed his favorite song to himself on repeat. That song happens to be “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash. After watching Season 4, we know that this tactic has saved multiple people from Vecna’s control, including Vecna’s own father, and Max, who uses the song “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush to stave off Vecna’s attacks.
It is still possible that Vecna was controlling the Demogorgon to go after Will instead of doing it himself. We have seen Vecna control and manipulate plenty of creatures from the Upside Down to do his bidding in Hawkins, including the Mind Flayer itself. That said, it’s hard to deny the overwhelming evidence that Vecna was present in “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” and most fans didn’t even notice.
Release Date
2016 – 2025
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Directors
Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Andrew Stanton, Frank Darabont, Nimród Antal, Uta Briesewitz
Writers
Kate Trefry, Jessie Nickson-Lopez, Jessica Mecklenburg, Alison Tatlock
Millie Bobby Brown
Jane ‘Eleven’ Hopper
Finn Wolfhard
Mike Wheeler
