Did Vecna actually feature CGI? VFX artist who worked on 'Stranger Things' Season 4 refutes claim

'Uhhhhh....there absolutely is. I guess all the hard work myself and other artists did on Venca didn't exist huh?' wrote VFX artist Matthew McDonald
UPDATED JUL 6, 2022
Vecna in a still from 'Stranger Things' Season 4 (Netflix)
Vecna in a still from 'Stranger Things' Season 4 (Netflix)

'Stranger Things' Season 4 introduced Hawkins and the world to Jamie Campbell Bower's Vecna, the big bad of the latest installment. The antagonist is perhaps the most brutal yet but has found himself in a bit of controversy after one of the VFX artists who worked on the hit Netflix theory criticized the theory of Vecna not featuring any CGI. In a tweet that has since been deleted, Netflix Geeked claimed that the baddie was CGI-free and was slammed by VFX artist Matthew McDonald and quoted that it was indeed used to create Bower's character.

While Vecna used generous doses of makeup and prosthetics to look more grisly, horrifying, and menacing, there's no doubt that those slithering and squelching tentacles were all due to CGI. The VFX artist also slammed how the Geekend's post actually diminishes all the hard work from him and his colleagues. "Uhhhhh....there absolutely is. I guess all the hard work myself and other artists did on Venca didn't exist huh?" McDonald wrote. He also went on to add: "anyways, Vecna is cool. everyone who did anything to bring such a cool character to life deserves recognition. The filmmaking process is fundamentally and entirely collaborative."

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Volume 2 of the hit show was released last week and the season has smashed viewership records for Netflix. The latest installment saw the Hawkins heroes square off against Vecna, a villain who preys on the victims who have suffered intense trauma. The way he goes about killing the victims is gruesome and kills three teens in the goriest fashion.

The finale features an epic face-off between Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Vecna, where the use of CGI is quite prominent. The Duffer Brothers previously stated that the season 4 finale alone features more VFX shots than the whole of season 3, thereby proving McDonald's statement.

'Stranger Things' Season 4 is streaming on Netflix.

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