Ever since Jane “Eleven” Hopper (Millie Bobby Brown) was momentously introduced in the first season of Netflix’s fantasy mega-hit Stranger Things, eagle-eyed subscribers (and unapologetic diehards) have been working round the clock to figure out exactly who Eleven’s real father is. And while many fans still believe that Eleven is the offspring of Terry Ives and Dr. Martin Brenner aka “Papa,” a new theory suggests that perhaps a different character could be Eleven’s biological father after all.
In the first batch of episodes in the mind-bending fourth season, viewers are introduced to Vecna – the new resident baddie from the Upside Down who is torturing citizens in Hawkins. And while some fans are thirsting over the shredded villain, others are dissecting clues and drafting theories about the villain’s origin story and true connection with Eleven and Hawkins Lab.
In an unpredictable plot twist, Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) is revealed to be Henry Creel — the son of Victor Creel, who was believed to be dead at the hands of a supernatural force in their house as a child. Instead, it was Henry who was terrorizing his family and killed his mother and sister then blamed the entire ordeal on his crusty father.
A major part of season four thus far has been Eleven without the use of her telekinesis powers – which includes Dr. Brenner and Dr. Owens assisting Eleven in digging through flashbacks of her dark past to recover her memories. In these flashbacks, Eleven remembers that she encountered Vecna (aka Henry) when he was in Hawkins Lab with her. Only, he was revealed as 001 – the first test subject in Dr. Brenner’s experiment at Hawkins Lab.
So is Henry Creel/Vecna really Eleven’s father?
When Eleven first meets 001 (aka Vecna/Henry) in Hawkins Lab, he is considerably kind to her and offers her clues as to forge an escape. At the same time, fans realize that One and Eleven share similar powers, with both individuals able to move objects and people with their minds. Because of the duo sharing the same powers, many folks on Twitter are putting the pieces together – and many are now convinced that One has been Eleven’s real father all along, believing that Eleven received her powers through genetics.
But if you don’t believe us, let the receipts speak for themselves:
To clarify, there’s been a plethora of subtle signs that One is actually Eleven’s father – which includes him favoring Eleven over the others and trying to help her, him killing every other child during the Hawkins Massacre except for her, and One being in his mid-20s when Eleven was born. Many folks believe that in order to up the ante on his experiment, Dr. Brenner forced Terry Ives and Henry Creel to create Eleven and begin an entire new program of experimenting on gifted offspring.
While it has yet to be officially confirmed, this theory definitely pleases the eye and captures the attention of fans across the globe – especially those who enjoy picking apart every Easter egg and piece of dialogue that points to something bigger. And even though Jane/Eleven has technically already been adopted by Jim Hopper, devoted Netflix subscribers certainly wouldn’t shy away from learning the cold hard facts about Eleven’s background.
We’ll see if we get our answer when Volume Two of Stranger Things 4 arrives on Netflix on July 1.
