While the source of Vecna's powers is never explained, there are some Stranger Things hints leading to the theory that Hawkins had a big part in awakening them. Vecna is revealed in season 4 to be the base cause behind all of Hawkins' unfortunate happenings for the past three years. His goal is to merge the Upside Down with real-world Hawkins through a giant gate he opened using the power of four victims taken throughout the season, which he essentially accomplishes in the season 4 finale despite the efforts to stop him.
What's never fully revealed is what the full significance of Hawkins is to Vecna. There's a 1983 recreation of Hawkins in the Upside Down, Vecna focuses on Hawkins when taking his victims, and Vecna destroys Hawkins to create his gate. However, the scope of the Hawkins calamity in Stranger Things' season 4 ending lends credence to the belief that it was a prime spot for an interdimensional connection. Furthermore, aspects like the Russians' heightened interest in Hawkins Lab, the creation of Eleven, and the coincidence that Henry Creel became so powerful once he went to Hawkins all the idea that the town has further significance than originally thought and perhaps even that Vecna's powers were caused by Hawkins.
Stranger Things 4 Doesn't Explain Henry Creel's Powers
There's still much to be explained about Henry Creel in Stranger Things season 5, especially the origin of his powers. Unlike Eleven, whose powers seem like they were fueled by the experiments at Hawkins Lab, Dr. Brenner took an interest in Henry primarily because of his abilities. It's also hinted that, from what Dr. Brenner learned about Henry, the experiment subjects following him had Henry's powers recreated in them to varying degrees. It's part of a project known as MKUltra, a Stranger Things takes inspiration from in its use of psychedelic drugs and mental manipulation. Unlike the real MKUltra's purpose of focusing on the secrets of brainwashing during the Cold War, Stranger Things' MKUltra experiments seem to be tied to other purposes.
According to Henry Creel, he was brought to Dr. Brenner when his mother caught on to his mysterious psychic powers. Why his mother reaches out to Dr. Brenner specifically, and why Dr. Brenner takes an initial interest in Henry, is all left unexplained. Furthermore, it's never explained how long before he was experimented on by Dr. Brenner when Henry truly started exhibiting psychic abilities, latent or not. While he was undoubtedly an interesting test subject, Stranger Things doesn't actually reveal Dr. Brenner's motives with Henry. It can be insinuated that he'd want to create a Stranger Things army of psychic children for the sake of Cold War competitiveness, but again, there are holes yet to be fully explained about how Henry got his powers and why Dr. Brenner would want to harness them.
Theory: Hawkins Awakened Creel's Psychic Powers
There's proof that Henry's psychic behavior doesn't manifest until his move to Hawkins. According to his father Victor Creel, the strange "demonic" behavior started happening once the Creels moved into their new house, leading Victor to assume that the house was possessed by something sinister. With this theory, it's important to note whether the awakening of Henry's powers upon his Hawkins arrival was coincidental or not. Just because his powers came to be once he moved to Hawkins does not mean that Hawkins was the catalyst for awakening them.
Nonetheless, there are other factors about Hawkins to consider. Hawkins Lab is the site where children are psychically experimented on, with increased Russian attention given to it. The Upside Down as Vecna made it originated as an alternate dimension "unspoiled by mankind," as Vecna says in the Stranger Things season 4 finale, yet Eleven was able to send him there while psychically attacking him at Hawkins Lab. With this said, it becomes a little more apparent that there may be something about Hawkins that awakened Henry's powers.
Stranger Things Already Hinted Hawkins Was Special
The infamous "Hawkins curse" seems to have only applied to the events happening during the show's timeframe, but it's possible that these occurrences signify something more about the town. It's true that Vecna caused much of the havoc on Hawkins with larger attacks that eventually accumulate into Vecna's major Stranger Things season 4 gate. However, it's worth considering a few important factors. It's very unlikely that Hawkins Lab is the only governmental lab of its kind in the United States, much less the only facility running Project MKUltra. That said, Stranger Things is revealing that Hawkins is the only town in which these interdimensional happenings occur.
Granted, it can be argued that Stranger Things focuses on Hawkins because it's the main setting. Still, the show's rendezvous in Russia suggests that the interdimensional occurrences in Hawkins seem unique to the town. Stranger Things has insinuated that the happenings at Hawkins Lab have led to the Upside Down occurrences, yet the unanswered questions regarding why Hawkins Lab exists specifically in Hawkins, Indiana, and why Dr. Brenner wanted to experiment on Henry Creel suggest the possibility that its occurrences aren't merely coincidental.
Hawkins Can Explain Vecna's Stranger Things 5 Plan
If this Stranger Things season 5 twist is to be believed, the origin story that Vecna told Eleven can't be taken entirely at face value. There's still a lot to be understood about the Upside Down, and perhaps more to learn about Vecna than originally believed. With that said, a key reason why the awakening of Henry Creel's powers can be tied to the Hawkins move is not that Vecna said so, but because Victor Creel confirmed it. Even with Victor Creel's questionable mental state in mind, his s of demonic activity matching up with Vecna's testimony of becoming more psychically powerful upon the Hawkins move give credence to the tie between Hawkins and Henry Creel's powers.
Still, it's worth wondering exactly why Vecna focuses so heavily on Hawkins in his 2-day gate-opening plan. To claim sentimentality and familiarity towards his hometown to be the reason why he focuses on Hawkins is possible, yet weak. Most of Vecna's childhood was spent in Hawkins Lab - he wouldn't have developed a strong familiarity and closeness with Hawkins as a town. Furthermore, there's nothing to explain why Vecna's victims were only in Hawkins, as remote as the town is. Assuming that his plan is to achieve some form of world domination, it's unclear why Vecna's reach wasn't further. What could explain the execution of Vecna's plan, however, is a significance about Hawkins that may yet be explained in Stranger Things season 5. Of course, this is all conjecture for the time being. However, given the implications and unanswered questions about Hawkins Lab and Vecna, it's possible that Vecna's powers and the town are more connected than originally perceived.