'Stranger Things' Season 5 Prediction: Max Could be Next Season's Villain

There is a good chance that Max Mayfield will no longer be the girl we knew from the previous seasons of 'Stranger Things '. She miraculously escaped death at the hands of Vecna thanks to Eleven, but it seems that the latter is not omnipotent: even though Max's physical body is alive, her mind simply is not there.

When Eleven tried to search for Max in the darkness, as she would usually do when she needs to mentally reach out to someone, Max seemed to be gone.

Which is why fans now think that Vecna, in fact, still has her, even though the gang clearly wounded him and won some time. His physical body disappeared after Steve, Nancy and Robin set him on fire and shot him, and his current location within the Upside Down is unknown.

But Max might face the fate similar to that of her brother Billy, whose mind ended up being corrupted by the Mind Flayer. If Vecna truly managed to take the red-headed Kate Bush fan, then she might as well end up being a villain in season 5, fans fear.

"She is Henry's vessel now, he will use her body to enter the material world, she's already gone and they will have to kill her in order to kill Henry. Let's face it." – @el__ronco.

While some are scared for her, there are people who would actually be willing to see Sadie Sink delivering a villainous version of Max.

"Sadie Sink is going to be the new host for Vecna S5, why are you all thinking she's okay. El took a peek and she wasn't there. Accept Sadie as our new villain! She's always delivered!" – @DarthxInferno.

However, not everyone is ready to give up on her.

"El probably was able to bring her physical body back to life but since Vecna still opened the portal that means he probably has her soul, she'll hopefully wake up when they off him." – @The_DeathMaiden.

Even if Vecna does have Max's soul, season 5 then will most likely be centred around the Hawkins gang trying to get it back – something that might finally allow them to close the gates for good and defeat Vecna completely.

Still, Max remains badly damaged on the physical level as well: not only were her eyes almost popped out, but also Vecna managed to break some of her bones. Many fans think that Max might end up being blind, even if her friends save her soul.

But this will only be clear in season 5, which might take a year or more to come out. The exact release date remains to be announced. Both parts of season 4 are currently streaming on Netflix.