Matt & Ross, Duffer Brothers disclosed that Eddie Munson won’t be in Stranger Things 5, which will mainly be in Hawkins. In a podcast, Happy Sad Confused, the Duffer Brothers chat with Josh Horowitz covered their experiences before, during and after Stranger Things 1-4. The hourlong conversation also touched the duo’s writing influences and inspiration for the hottest IP keeping the internet busy with fan theories, reactions and even meme-creations.
The brothers also recap and reveal how they deliberate the fate of the characters. The following paragraphs may contain spoilers so if you haven’t seen the last two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4, you are warned.
Duffer Brothers: Eddie Munson Won’t Be In Stranger Things 5
Image: Netflix
Right off the bat, Horowitz cleared out who really survived Season 4 and who did not. To the despair of a lot of Metallica and D&D lovers out there, Eddie Munson, wonderfully portrayed by Joseph Quinn has truly perished. In Matt and Ross’ words:
They are going to be unhappy enough about Eddie…
In a way we sort of saw Eddie as bit of a doomed character. Even imagining a flip side of that where he does survive that final battle, there’s not a great life waiting for Eddie back in the right side up either. He was really designed from the get-go as a doomed character.
Eddie was hurdling towards his doom this whole season. But of course, when you do a death in the show, if you’re killing someone that no one cares about, it has no impact.
So, the goal was to make Eddie a very likeable character and have the audience to fall in love with him. But to see the extent that they did obviously made us go “Oh boy!”
Apparently, while editing the last two episodes, they were surprised as to how people loved Eddie this new season. However, Eddie was supposed to bring a very important message across. They explain:
…In our mind, the minute we came up with this character it like, he was going to be tragic character. There was never any other arc for him. Like, …how do you survive this? At the very end you still see they are drawing devil horns on his head. No one in Hawkins is going to accept any supernatural explanation for any of this. He would have wound up in jail. And this fantasy that he would have been able to walk and graduate. Sadly was never really a realistic outcome for him.
It was really a sad tragic story but we always wanted there to be a bit of hope there.
Duffer Brothers: Eddie Munson Won’t Be In Stranger Things 5
Image: Netflix
The reality is that even though Eddie would have survived the BAT-tle in the upside down, he would have faced a very sad life ahead of him. Even in the season, Eddie himself has said his ‘Shire’ is already burning, thus to ‘Mordor’ he will go. The Duffer brothers emphasized his hope in the end:
Eddie is frustrated with the world as it is. In its structures values and morals. And, he looks to Mike and Dustin as new generation of kids and the generation coming after them, as a source of hope. That’s why he is going like …rescue the little sheep. In Eddie’s mind, though he dies, he sees hope and not despair.
And that is why I love the final moment between him and Dustin. And how Dustin talks about it when he talked to Eddie’s uncle about how Eddie never changed, never gave up hope. He wasn’t a nihilistic person in spite of all that has done to him. It’s obviously a really sad story but hopefully one that resonates with people. It was not designed for shock value.
Matt & Ross Duffer also reiterated that all the deaths in the previous seasons especially Eddie’s death always have repercussions for Season 5. At the very least, Eddie’s uncle knows he died fighting for and saving others’ lives.
No, we’re not crying. Rock on Eddie!
