Early Vecna Designs - The Duffer Brothers wanted something that was inspired by Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellraiser while still existing in the Upside Down design language and the Dungeons and Dragons theme. I handed these designs to Barrie Gower who made an amazing, practically sculpted suit.
Early iterations of Vecna had maggots infesting the cavity of his missing nose as well as wriggling in the rot of his vine infected body parts.
Early iterations had extremely gaunt proportions with the character being much taller.
An early depiction of Vecna stalking a victim.
Early Vecna concepts. Featuring the vine neck and how it would create negative space. Also exploring a profile with a missing nose. Early iterations still had hair, we did away with that later.
An early style frame depicting the mood of the character. A mastermind archetype that has no need to run after his victims.
Early designs for Vecna. Exploring proportions and face structure. Ended up feeling a little too much like the Predator.
Another early design for Vecna. This one leaned more towards an insect. It would have been much taller. The legs and arms would have had the ability to split apart. The chest would have opened up. Would have been difficult to pull off practically.
Early Vecna design. Leaning more toward a classic alien look. The thinking was that the Upside Down would have transformed him over time into something closer to a Demogorgon than a human.
In early stages of the script, Vecna was depicted having extremely pale skin, sort of like a Vampire. I pitched that the skin might actually be rotting away if someone was forced to live in the Upside Down for too long. Perhaps he would try and clamp the skin together to save it.
Early Vecna Design. In the Upside Down school hallway. Often times it helps to put the character in an environment to give it scale and make it more appealing.
Early Vecna Design. In the Upside Down school hallway. Not sure what I was thinking here...
Early Vecna Design - More Upside Down radiation rot.
Early Vecna Design - More Upside Down radiation rot.
Early Vecna Design - More Upside Down radiation rot.
Early Vecna Design - This version had a patchwork of skin stretched over his gaunt figure. Definitely leaning more towards Hellraiser for these sculpts.
Early Vecna Design - This version had a patchwork of skin stretched over his gaunt figure. Definitely leaning more towards Hellraiser for these sculpts.
Early Vecna Design - This version had a patchwork of skin stretched over his gaunt figure. Definitely leaning more towards Hellraiser for these sculpts.
Early Vecna design - Considering a cloak. Also playing with a Polio type of gangrene.
Early Vecna Design - Here I was playing with some interesting patchy shapes made from vines and general gangrene.
Early Vecna Design - Playing with asymmetry and having a large tentacle attached to one of his arms.
Early Vecna Design - Here I was playing with some interesting patchy shapes made from vines and general gangrene.
Early Vecna Design - This one was inspired by a prehistoric fish called a 'Dunkleosteus'. They have a patchwork of armor that I thought might be cool.
Early Vecna Design - This one was inspired by a prehistoric fish called a 'Dunkleosteus'. They have a patchwork of armor that I thought might be cool.
Early Vecna Design - This one was inspired by a prehistoric fish called a 'Dunkleosteus'. They have a patchwork of armor that I thought might be cool.
Early Vecna design - Has a very direct Hellraiser influence to it.
Early Vecna Design - This one was inspired by a prehistoric fish called a 'Dunkleosteus'. They have a patchwork of armor that I thought might be cool.
One of the first iterations of Vecna.