The internet loves Eddie Munson. Everyone who watches Stranger Things either is actively in love with Eddie Munson, wants to be Eddie Munson, or a mix of both. If you don’t? You probably just secretly do. He is an incredible character and made all the more likable by the fact that Joseph Quinn brings this dark and twisted goofball to life through fun reaction glances, a love for rock music, and a charming smile that can have anyone believing that Eddie really does want the best for everyone around him (even the other members of the Hellfire Club).
We were lucky enough to talk to Joseph Quinn the day that Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 dropped and while there will be no spoilers here, it was quite a journey to talk to the man who has taken over the internet as everyone’s new favorite character. I started off our chat at the roundtable by asking him what it feels like seeing how the internet has reacted to Eddie and his performance in the show.
“I guess it’s a relief really. I think kind of when you join a show like this you’re aware that people are pretty devoted towards it and the fans that inhabit that world. So I guess kind of the fact that people have been so gracious and welcoming to Eddie was a bit of an exhale,” Quinn said. “But kind of the magnitude of the reception has been completely disarming. I wasn’t expecting that at all.”
His response to the remix of “Chrissy Wake Up” that has taken over the internet? “But the remix is pretty funny it’s… pretty, pretty, pretty funny. And it’s so stupid and I’m so glad that they did it. It’s ridiculous.” The song, if you haven’t heard it, is a remixed version of Eddie’s line when his friend Chrissy is being taken by Vecna and the song will get stuck in your head and just play on a loop so…beware. It will become your song that will save you from Vecna if you’re not careful.
Eddie’s nerdiness
What’s so wonderful about Eddie Munson as a character is that he never lets his nerdy ways go. When everything is against him and Hawkins has labeled him a murderer and shunned him, he’s hiding away and still is willing to make connections to Lord of the Rings as a way of motivating himself into doing what he needs to with our favorite group of Hawkins kids. So I brought up Eddie’s connection to Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings and asked Quinn where his own nerdiness separates from Eddie’s and he was seemingly excited I brought up the world that J.R.R. Tolkien created. I brought up the line where Eddie says that they’re asking him to go to Mordor but the Shire is burning and it spurred Quinn into bringing up his own love of the series.
“Well, it’s funny you mention that line because I was a proper Lord of Rings nerd,” Quinn said. “When I was growing up, I was obsessed with the films. I’m not a Tolkien scholar or anything, but I had all of the toys and I’d set the toys up, I’d take photos of the toys having battles. And I had a six foot cut out of Orlando Bloom in my bedroom to an alarmingly late age. That was kind of as far as I nerded out on anything. So, I guess I can relate to the Lord of the Rings stuff and being a massive Lord of the Rings fan.”
Stranger Things 4 Vol 2. is available on Netflix now and let us all fall in love with Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson together.
(image: Netflix)
