Jamie Campbell Bower thought it was "pretty crazy" when fans became insistent there was a secret final Stranger Things episode on the way.
The 37-year-old actor played Vecna/ Henry Creel/ Mr Whatsit in the hit Netflix series and he was amazed by a viral theory, dubbed Conformity Gate, that the actual finale was simply an illusion created by his villainous character and there was another installment on the way.
Asked the craziest fan theory he's heard since the show ended, he told Entertainment Weekly at San Diego Comic-Con: “That there was gonna be another episode.
“Everyone was like, ‘Conformity Gate, there’s gonna be a ninth episode.’ I was like, ‘If there is, I’m not in it! I shot what I shot, I’m done.’ "
Jamie laughed at how it was "pretty crazy" to see the theory spread thanks to "confirmation bias", which saw cast interviews convince fans they were dropping hints about another episode.
He said: “Anything that we did was like, ‘Well, that just proves it.' They were like, ‘That ‘s it, it’s coming.’”
And six months after Stranger Things ended, Jamie is still quizzed on the existence of a secret episode.
He added: “And I still get asked the question, even now. People are like, ‘Is there a ninth episode coming?’ I’m like, it’s been six months! If there is, they’re kinda behind.”
Jamie's Stranger Things co-star Caleb McLaughlin - who played Lucas Sinclair - previously admitted he thought the Conformity Gate theory was "dumb".
He told the Hollywood Reporter in February: “At first, I thought the Conformity Gate theory was dumb.
“I get that people want to live in this optimistic place of, ‘Oh, we want more Stranger Things,’ but the show is done, guys. I was like, ‘Guys, it’s over. It’s been 10 years. We were full-on kids, and now we’re full-on adults, and we don’t need any more of us.’”
But the 24-year-old star eventually felt the popularity of the theory made sense because of the tone of Stranger Things.
He added: “The Duffers, our wonderful, amazing creators, wanted to leave everybody with this level of optimism that the show has always given everyone.
"So if they left the show without that, we would have left Stranger Things without the true essence of what we’ve been representing forever.”
