Stranger Things actor explains why Vecna didn't kill character as creators respond to major criticism

One of the stars of Stranger Things has explained why she reckons a key character wasn’t killed by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) when he had the chance.

This comes as the creators, the Duffer Brothers, responded to a major criticism from fans about the Netflix show’s deaths.

All the way back in season four, Vecna got into the mind of Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and exposed parts of his backstory and gave her some horrifying visions, including her whole family being dead. Obviously, this now seems like quite a warning considering the events of the latest episodes.

But while she was right in the monster’s control, she ended up surprisingly making it out alive. Well, is it so surprising considering none of the core Stranger Things characters ever really seem to die? Either way, some of the stars have a theory.

Natalia Dyer on Nancy’s survival

Answering fan questions for InStyle, Dyer responded to: “Why didn’t Vecna kill Nancy? Vecna preys on those with trauma, clearly Nancy is still feeling guilt regarding Barb.”

Although both she and co-star, Charlie Heaton, find that point rather amusing, doubling down on ‘clearly’.

“He chooses Nancy to tell his story to,” the actor continues, “and show what he plans to do. But why didn’t he kill her? Does Vecna have a tie to the Wheelers?”

And Dyer admitted she also asked this to the Duffers, as she explained she believed Vecna needed a ‘vehicle’ to go and report his warnings.

Maya Hawke also chimed in: “I’ve also never thought of this, but he does prey on people who are traumatised or going through deep psychological discomfort.

“But Nancy has such a strong mental disposition that maybe she was too strong – she was not interesting to him because she had so much.”

The Stranger Things stars agreed that she’s ‘too tough’ and perhaps ‘too much of a challenge’.

“Oh, that brain, I can show it some scary movies, but I can’t destroy it,” Hawke joked.

Let's be honest, he could've killed her. (Netflix)

The Duffer Brothers respond to criticism

With the show having run for nine years now, there’s the complaint that the creators consistently hold back from killing off their main characters.

Yeah, sure, we’ve been close, there’s been some injuries, and plenty of other characters have dramatically died. But never any of the core gang.

The Duffer Brothers have made it clear they could just ‘kill anyone off at any point very easily’, but choose to steer away from shock value.

“It’s more about the repercussions that would have for all of our other characters,” the duo explained to the Independent. “We just always want to think ahead and not just do it to shock people or because people have a bloodlust, which they seem to have.”

With Stranger Things being more of a ‘coming-of-age’ show than something like Game of Thrones (where let’s face it, there’s a hell of a lot of deaths), the creators say they’re telling a ‘very different type of story’ and have warned not to expect a ‘bloodbath’.

“We just have to make sure that if and when we do it, that it doesn’t alter the tone of the show in a way that we don’t want,” they added.

“We want to make sure that if someone dies like Eddie, who we killed last season, his death resonates throughout the course of season five.”

Stranger Things 5, Volume One, is now streaming on Netflix.