By David Craig

Published: Thursday, 16 June 2022 at 12:00 am


*Warning: spoilers for Stranger Things 4: Volume 1*

The writers behind Stranger Things have cleared up a point of confusion around the real name of terrifying villain Vecna, who stalked the small town of Hawkins, Indiana throughout the show’s fourth season.

The hideous creature’s identity is a mystery to begin with, but over the course of the first volume we learn that he is none other than Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower), son of wrongfully convicted murderer Victor and first test subject of Dr Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine).

However, some fans had speculated that a further twist could be on the way, observing that when Bower’s casting was initially announced in the press, his character was referred to as Peter Ballard.

Getting wind of this conversation, the Stranger Things writers took to Twitter to clarify that Peter Ballard was merely a pseudonym used to keep the plot of season 4 under wraps and that it has no relevance to the plot of Volume 2 or beyond.

Their tweet, embedded below, reads: “Peter Ballard was a fake name for casting. His name is Henry Creel and you should not call him Peter. You can, but it’s weird.”

PSA #1: “Enzo’s” name is actually Dmitri but it’s okay if you want to call him Enzo.
PSA #2: Peter Ballard was a fake name for casting. His name is Henry Creel and you should not call him Peter. You can, but it’s weird.

— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) June 15, 2022