Netflix’s Stranger Things season 4 brought us Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn)—the outcast who was blamed for the death of Chrissy Cunningham despite having nothing to do with it—and made us fall in love with him. We were thrown into Eddie’s world and watched as he continued to feel like he was the sidekick and not important enough, until the entire team needed him and he stepped up to keep Dustin, Nancy, Robin, and Steve safe in the Upside Down. And after meeting his fate there at the teeth of Vecna’s bats, we have all been wondering whether or not we’ll see Eddie Munson again.
Munson, inspired by the real-life Damien Echols, part of the “West Memphis Three,” gave the world a character that we could all relate to in some way. That feeling of being pushed aside and forgotten by everyone, loving something that everyone ridicules you for? There’s something in there for everyone to cling to, and it helps that Joseph Quinn is beautiful, and thus, a new internet boyfriend and obsession was born. And then they went and killed him, making everyone find ways to justify Eddie coming back for the fifth season.
There are theories about a possible return for the character, of course. Like my favorite one of Eddie Munson coming back as a vampire, but producer Shawn Levy took to the carpet at the 2022 Emmy Awards, for his work on the series, and gave us an answer about the character’s future, whether we like it or not. At first, Levy spoke about how the show continues to grow and how the obsession with Eddie is an example of how Stranger Things has kept up momentum throughout all these years that it has been on Netflix, which then, of course, led to the question of whether or not we’ll get at least an Eddie flashback in season 5.
“A lot of people can’t even handle the thought of a season 5 without some excuse for Eddie’s presence. Highly unlikely,” Levy said. “Highly unlikely but we hear you world. We know. You’re obsessed with Eddie. So are we.”
They get it—we love Eddie Munson
The thing about Stranger Things is that once a character is dead, you might get a brief flash of them in a scenario we’ve seen before in the next season, but otherwise, that character is pretty much gone. Notable exceptions do occur, like Eleven in season 2 and Hopper in season 4, but neither of them were actually dead. When we see the character lying on the ground, bloodied and not breathing, that’s usually a sign that their time in Hawkins has come to an end.
So, I am of two minds about Eddie Munson. On the one hand, I want Joseph Quinn in my life always, so if it means we get Eddie Munson back as a vampire in Stranger Things season 5, I’m all for it. But also, I have had to say goodbye to Bob (Sean Astin) and Alexei (Alec Utgoff) without a chance of seeing them again, and I have learned to love again. I can do it with Eddie, too. (Sorry, Barb. You’ve come back so much because of fan outcry that you don’t count in this list.)
We also have had one dead character return constantly because of his connection to his sister, and that’s Billy Hargrove, played by Dacre Montgomery. And so, in this case, I wouldn’t be mad if Eddie were used as bait for Dustin and Steve in the Upside Down, like Billy is constantly for Max. It’d hurt, like being twisted up by Vecna himself, but it would mean we’d get to see the boy again.
All this being said, it is interesting that Levy is trying to push audiences away from expecting Eddie in one way or another. Whether that’s because Eddie isn’t coming back or because he’s showing up as a vampire—or in some other way—and they want to keep it a secret is anyone’s guess.
(featured image: Netflix)
