Winona Ryder recently revealed to Netflix’s TuDum that the climactic moment in the Stranger Things finale, in which Joyce decapitates Vecna with an axe, was only filmed twice. This scene marked Ryder’s last collaboration with Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower.
“I love Jamie so much,” Ryder said. “I remember when he was in that position and we were talking about the band, and he was the nicest guy. I came that day just for that. You can’t rehearse a scene like that, you just have to save it for takes. I think we only did it twice.”
The beheading took place shortly after Joyce told Vecna, “You fucked up with the wrong family.” The iconic line shows the F-word, which is rarely used in “Stranger Things” history.
“We didn’t use the F-word in the show, and we were looking for moments to use it,” series co-creator Matt Duffer told Tudom. “I think Dacre[Montgomery, who plays Billy]said this in Season 3’s ‘Sauna Test’ (episode 4) when we didn’t want him to. So I don’t think it’s technically the first time, but we’ve been looking for real moments that deserve stronger expression and we’ve been saving them. And we were like, “If we’re going to go there, now is the moment. Let’s dedicate it to Winona.”
Ross Duffer said in an interview with Variety that the Stranger Things writers’ room debated which character should give Vecna the final blow, and that Joyce decapitating the villain “felt right for a number of reasons.”
“She’s like a mother to this group, a protector,” Ross said. “And we didn’t get to see her hit anything with that axe, so it felt like a very satisfying way to give Vecna that final blow. But when we were editing, there was a flashback to the beginning where she was remembering Bob and growing angry. It felt right that it wasn’t just a ‘fuck yeah’ moment. It was also, in a way, a cathartic moment for the characters who are cleansing all of these traumas that have been caused here, so it’s not just a moment to stand up and cheer. Remember that this evil is causing them great suffering. ”
Matt Duffer added: “I remember working with the editor and the composer and saying, ‘Let’s make this the most emotional decapitation of all time.'” That was the goal. ”
“Stranger Things 5” is now available for streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
