The long-awaited fourth season of Stranger Things is finally happening, and the trailer released by Netflix does not disappoint! We’ve got some intense hairstyle choices—with Hopper sporting a shaved head in a Russian gulag, the bowl-cut bang squad, and Lucas with a fly as hell House Party high-top fade. Plus, haunted houses, new, scarier-looking monsters in the upside-down, Max potentially having her own super-powers (or someone is making her levitate over Billy’s grave at least!), and a mysterious old man named Victor Creel.
Who is Victor Creel?
Not much has been revealed about the inmate of Pennhurst Mental Hospital, but here’s what we know so far:
In 1959, Creel and his family moved into a house in Hawkins, and shortly after, strange things (like flickering lights) began to occur. Later, he was convicted of murdering his entire family, was decreed criminally insane, and sent to Pennhurst—where, in 1986 he (or someone else) gouged out his eyes.
This season will be delving deep into the mysteries around Creel and Pennhurst itself. We don’t know much about the mysterious asylum, only that Dustin once (back in season one) joked that Lucas had family there, and Lucas reacted defensively. Perhaps Lucas actually does have a connection to Pennhurst and will be the key to unlocking its mysteries?
Who plays Victor Creel?
Creel is played by the legendary horror actor Robert Englund, a.k.a. the iconic serial killer, Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. In an interview with IGN, the Duffer brothers briefly discussed Englund’s turn as Victor Creel. They described him as a “pivotal” character in the season and revealed that not only is this season heavily inspired by the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, but Englund was actually the one to approach them about being in the show:
“The fact that he came to us in a season that’s so deeply inspired by the Nightmare series and by his performance especially in those movies, it felt like fate, it felt like, ‘okay, this is meant to be.’”
– Matt Duffer
Duffer also spoke about the importance of Creel’s haunted house as well. Creel’s house has been one of the images most heavily teased in the promotional materials for the fourth season, because of its connections to the horror thematics of the story. Duffer explains that:
“We’ve wanted to do the haunted house thing, I think, for a while. Every year we’re trying to do something different. This was a more horror-leaning season. We had our kids, they’re obviously in high school, and it just felt very natural that they should be in a horror movie.”
– Matt Duffer
Robert Englund also revealed in an interview that while his character might be “pivotal” to the mystery of the season, he will only be appearing in one episode of the fourth season due to the difficulties production had faced because of the pandemic. But he looks forward to watching the series as a fan.
(via: IGN, image: Netflix)
