Edward Creel is El, Henry Creel is Will. No seriously.
I was reading the Montauk book and well... I have evidence that Eleven is a "reincarnation" of Edward Creel. And Will could be a reincarnation of Henry.
In "The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time," we hear about a man named Duncan Cameron. He has psychic abilities much like the lab kids and was clearly the inspiration for Henry. Duncan also has a brother named Edward Cameron. They both were working on the USS Eldridge and were later involved in time travel experiments.
At some point during their time travel shenanigans, Edward decided to stay in 1943 while Duncan stayed in 1983. This caused Duncan to start aging rapidly and in order to preserve his abilities, they figured out that they carry a unique electromagnetic signature. This signature is basically their entire personhood, their mind and memories. Both Duncan and Edward's signatures were transferred onto new people, reincarnating them. The children they transferred their minds to have no recollection of who they were before the "reincarnation" process.
And I think this happened to Will and El.
As other people have theorized, Edward Creel is Henry's brother who got lost in another timeline. I think that the lab found him and his mind was transferred into El, much like Edward Cameron's mind was transferred. In Montauk, Edward was replicated through age regression, but it doesn't have to be one-to-one.
Edward and Duncan got stuck in a side time tunnel at one point and encountered aliens. This could be where the timeline split for Henry and Edward too.
How do I know they'll use this part of the Montauk experiments? Well... they already did. Edward was renamed Al Bielek after his transfer. In the play and in Eddie's book, we find out that Eddie (Edward) Munson's dad is named Al Munson. There's no way it's a coincidence that they paired up an Edward and an Al together. It's a reference to this part of Montauk.
Ok so why do I think El has part of Edward Creel's mind? First off, El and Al's names sound very similar. Hm. Their backstories also connect. Al was taken in by a family who had a baby that died young. Two of El's parental figures had children who died young. Hopper's daughter died at the age of 6. Terry was told she "miscarried" in the third trimester. Al's parents were brainwashed after they stuck Edward into their family. Terry was also brainwashed.
In the Edward Creel version of the Creel murders, Edward was found without eyes and mutilated limbs. Could be lab interference, or they could be telling us that Edward is actually dead. In Montauk, they only wanted to transfer signatures when their star subject was dying. This could be why they transferred Edward Creel's signature into El. He was killed before his time.
Edward’s version of events happened on March 21st. This is the same night Chrissy was murdered in Eddie’s trailer. The bodies were found on the 22nd, just like Chrissy. El was accused of wanting to kill Angela after the assault that happened on the 22nd. Eddie was later killed by bats. Is this another hint that Edward Creel is dead? The vampire references surrounding Eddie might also link to Edward Creel becoming “undead” through El.
Side theory that kind of relates: Was Edward the boy Henry put in a wheelchair? This could explain why the Creels have the wheelchair in their attic. Maybe they left Edward behind to stay with other relatives for his safety. Or Edward is related, but not a sibling? A cousin?
Vecna slash Henry says that there was a time when he wanted El by his side. In Montauk, Edward and Duncan (aka Henry) went back in time together to save the USS Eldridge and complete the time loop. It could be that after the signature transfer, El and Will work together to fix the time loop, so Vecna is referencing future events where they do work together, but through a different time.
There isn't much information about Edward Cameron in the Montauk book, so that part of the evidence ends here.
If El had Henry's timeline brother transferred into her mind, this could explain why Henry felt so connected to her compared to the other lab children. In the play, it's evident that he felt connected to her upon her birth! He even says she reminds him of someone he knew and while he was talking about himself here, it could be another hint at El literally being someone he knew: his brother Edward.
This isn't to say El isn't her own person, she is, but she does have the mind and memories of Edward in her too. She's both!
Now onto the Will of it all. Will has Henry's electromagnetic signature. Like, this is confirmed. They literally say so.
Seriously.
As I said earlier, the signature transfer causes the original person to lose all sense of who they were before the transfer. This is basically what the Mind Flayer did to Will when he was possessed. The lines between Will and whatever was taking over his mind were being blurred, but they got him back. Not without consequences, though. The "signature" wasn't removed, Will still has Henry in him. He is both Will and Henry.
Will and Henry's backstories are nearly identical. Henry got lost in another dimension, got possessed, and now has powers, all things that happened to Will. And we know the iconic parallel of them both being described as sensitive. Their family dynamics are also similar. Virginia and Lonnie are abusive, Jonathan and Alice are older siblings to their brothers (not to mention their dead bunny parallel), Joyce and Victor have a few similarities too. Will and Henry even dress similarly in their plaid shirts.
Will is described to have personality changes in s2, but the most significant changes we see before his possession are just extensions of himself. He became more reserved, more quiet than he usually is. Henry also seemed to be quiet, so their personalities combining exacerbated Will's behavior.
I'm not the first to point this out, but Will draws a zombie that looks very similar to Henry when he enters Dimension X. When questioned, Will says that the drawing is him and doesn't expand on why (we know why, but still). Henry is zombie boy, zombie boy is Will, Will is Henry.
And that wasn't even scratching the surface of the Henry Will parallels.
It's also worth noting that the kid Duncan transferred his signature to was 12 years old. You know, the same age Will was when he got kidnapped. Duncan was in the year 1983 (before time traveling) when this happened.
This could be why Vecna slash Henry sought out Will in the first place. Like Duncan, Henry was dying, and needed a replacement to preserve himself. Will was the perfect subject. This connects back to my theory that Henry's physical body is already dead and the Vecna we see is his soul/mind.
It's possible that Henry's soul/body is now just a puppet for the Mind Flayer, abandoned of Henry's previous traits. When Henry tells his backstory, he has no recollection of the better aspects of his personality we are shown in the play, he only remembers the dark parts. This might be because the good parts of Henry aren't with him, but with Will.
Henry’s Creel murders happened on March 25th. It’s interesting how on March 25th, we see Will burying a body in the desert. Will is linked to death on the 25th? Same scene, Mike says “It’s the number. We’ve had it this whole time (looks at Will).” Will is the number… 001.
Duncan couldn't die due to time paradoxes, which is why they transferred his mind to a new body. Maybe this is why the Mind Flayer wants to keep Will alive. Will and Henry need to live as one (haha) to keep the timeline stable. This could provide time travel scenarios in s5 where Will has to go back in time and cause future events...
Something interesting that I haven't seen discussed before is how Will's comment about Vegas actually connects to Henry. Patty, the one person Henry ever really connected to, was on the search for her biological mother. Patty found out that her mom was working at a casino in Vegas, so she left Hawkins to meet her there. Will references Vegas casinos in the van! This could be a subconscious desire from Henry's side of Will to seek out Patty. Honestly I hope Wills little reference is alluding to Patty coming back in s5 too.
One more thing, Will's relation to Henry and/or Dimension X started before 1983. Will drew the rainbow spaceship in 1979, a reference to the USS Eldridge. I think the transfer happened when Will was attached to the vine in the UD, so there are likely time shenanigans here. Or... the lab implanted Henry's mind into Will in 1979 when his physical body died, but even that doesn't align with Will's birthday ship!
Edward Cameron's memories of his time on the USS Eldridge were wiped, but Duncan still recalls the experiment. El also seems to have no recollection of the rainbow ship, but Will does. Edward didn't regain these memories until the mid 1980s. Could El begin to recall these events in s5?
El and Will having Edward and Henry's respective signatures also explains their weird sibling connection in s1.
El recognized Will because she knew him in another body in another timeline. They were meant to be siblings because they already were. Through Henry and Edward's memories of each other, El feels drawn to Will like she's always known him, despite never meeting.
Will and El switch places with each other too many times in the series for me to even provide examples (here's one). They swap places, go through parallel yet contrasting scenarios, much like their henward counterparts. This seems to be hinting at them having a higher connection than siblings by chance.
Circling back to Montauk, this line could be referencing Will and El completing/ending the time loop together, like Henry and Edward were supposed to before Edward's early demise.
The time loop goes from 1943 when the ship disappeared, to 1983 when Will was kidnapped. I think Will is the key to time travel and this might be unlocked when he and El work together to reach it. Their powers can combine to save the world. Will and El's connection transcends time and will fix time.
Sometimes I worry I’m like super super fucking weird and then I look around at the people I share a fandom space with and realize, we’re all fucking weirdos
three bands comprised of a pair of brothers on the tfs soundtrack… clearly, they’re telling us that henry and edward were a musical duo. the creel cats.
