Even the way Eleven pins One against the wall in Stranger Things 4 episode 7 evokes a panel from the Dark Phoenix comics, where Jean eventually snaps and turns against her tormentor before destroying his mind.
Will Eleven become like Dark Phoenix in X-Men?Īll the building blocks from Dark Phoenix are there – and the reference to the Hellfire Club can’t be a coincidence. In One/Vecna himself, we have the prospect of a psychic powerhouse going rogue and becoming a terrifying monster themselves. We have a young psychic reliving old memories. In Vecna, we have a villain who can cast convincing illusions into the minds of his victims. In these illusions, she too was part of the Hellfire Club (specifically their Black Queen), and helped Mastermind defeat the X-Men. In the story, a mutant who can cast illusions (called Mastermind) tries to brainwash Jean to help him get accepted into the Hellfire Club, making Jean relive what she believes are past memories to turn her to his will. In the X-Men comics, the Hellfire Club are an elite group of humans and mutants who often function as villains to the main X-team, and they play a significant role in Jean’s Dark Phoenix transformation. After all, it’s hard to ignore the significance of the so-called ‘Hellfire Club’ in this season of Stranger Things, with the demonically-dubbed Dungeons and Dragons club getting several of our heroes in trouble during season 4. Of course, other parts of Eleven’s story are very different to Jean’s – but we can’t help but wonder if they’re headed in a similar direction. Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in STRANGER THINGS. Even their names are similar – in public life Eleven goes by Jane, which rearranges to (and sounds similar to) Jean. They can both move objects with their minds (aka telekinesis) and have other psychic abilities. Obviously, Eleven can be compared to Jean Grey. It’s a popular, hugely respected story that’s been adapted for the screen twice, albeit poorly – but Stranger Things might now be doing its own version of it. Specifically, this issue kicked off the classic Dark Phoenix arc where team member Jean Grey succumbed to the temptations of her power and was possessed by a genocidal God that the other X-Men had to defeat. 134) that Will (Noah Schapp) wants to borrow. Stranger Things has long had a subtle Easter Egg connection to the classic mutant heroes, with the very first episode containing a reference to a comic-book issue (specifically, Uncanny X-Men No. Will Eleven be the final villain of Stranger Things?īasically, it all comes down to the X-Men. By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.