He is quite the unusual character.
The popular Netflix series, *Stranger Things*, has wrapped its five-season run, featuring the notorious Henry, known as Vecna (played by Jamie Campbell Bower).
Fans light-heartedly noted that Vecna has taken on a fashionable look, akin to some celebrities nowadays. Barry Gower, the show’s prosthetic makeup designer, shared that the creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, wanted to give Vecna a fresh look this season. “The threat had to feel grander, and the stakes needed to be higher,” he explained.
To portray Vecna, Bower underwent extensive prosthetic makeup, presenting a grim skull-like visage with skin that looks like it’s made of veins and tendrils.
Gower mentioned that, for Season 5, they “completely redesigned the head and arm prosthetics, enhancing the prominence of the roots and crafting more defined shapes for the veins and tendrils.” He added that they also included areas of charred skin, linking back to Vecna’s dramatic fall from the Creel house in Season 4, where flames engulfed him.
The series, set in Hawkins, Indiana during the 1980s, centers on a group of friends and family, including Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Steve (Joe Keery), and Joyce (Winona Ryder), as they confront the evil Vecna and his dreadful minions.
Gower recounted the grueling application process for Season 4, noting that Bower wore around 25 prosthetic pieces, which required a team of four artists about seven hours to apply daily. He would then spend 12 hours on set and endure a two-hour removal process after filming. For the fifth season, they reduced the complexity of the prosthetics, which also shortened the application time. However, they faced the challenge of keeping Bower’s stance consistent with the character’s established demeanor.
To tackle this, they created a “skin-tight Lycra bodysuit” with foam pads around the chest, helping him maintain an aggressive pose without being able to drop his arms.
This season also represented a shift between practical effects and digital enhancements for Vecna. Gower noted that while Season 4 utilized prosthetics extensively, they layered in digital movements later in post-production to preserve a touch of human physicality.
The Duffer brothers wanted Bower’s performance to feel tangible. Gower remarked that in Season 5, Vecna’s form evolved to be “larger” and “muted.” The character appears less human, now appearing more like twisted clumps of vines with many open spaces throughout.
This transformation led to increased digital effects for Vecna’s body, with a focus on prosthetics for the head, shoulders, and right arm. This approach ensured Bower’s performance remained front and center, especially during dialogue-driven scenes.
Gower has lent his talents to notable series such as *The Last of Us*, *The Witcher*, and *Game of Thrones*. His experience on *Game of Thrones* particularly helped shape the design of *Stranger Things*.
Initially, when approached for this project, he and his crew learned that the Duffers envisioned a villain with a presence akin to the Night King, a character Gower had worked on. “We had done extensive full-body makeup for *Game of Thrones*, so that experience was invaluable in crafting Vecna’s look,” he shared. He added that it not only guided the technical aspects of the prosthetics but also prepared them for the endurance needed to overcome the challenges of such elaborate makeup applications.
