How Eddie Munson's Spirit Lives On In Stranger Things Season 5

There are many reasons why "Stranger Things" has remained popular, with one of the most obvious being the scope of its ensemble. So many memorable characters have been introduced over the course of the previous four seasons, but not even the central Hawkins kids seemed to have blown up the way newcomer Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) did in season 4. The non-conformist heavy metal leader of Hawkins High's Hellfire Club worked his way into the hearts of viewers who wished he could be their friend. Eddie prided himself on being a dork with a punk rock exterior, which only makes it sadder that he won't be appearing in the last batch of episodes. His death in the season 4 finale wasn't all for naught, though, as it ensured his friends' survival to see another day. But while Quinn won't be returning to play him, Eddie's spirit will still live on through Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo).

In a 2025 interview with SFX Magazine, Matarazzo talked about how his character found himself emulating Eddie to the extent that he didn't even realize he was doing it:

"There are subconscious changes, things that Dustin doesn't realize he's changed. There are ways his friends don't realize that he's changed. But there's also a whole plethora of very specific choices on his part to change certain things about himself, to try to look like Eddie, to uphold his values and what he loved about Hellfire and D&D, and about people like him and Dustin and his friends."

Considering Dustin saw Eddie die in his arms after an epic guitar performance and a fight with an angry swarm of Demobats, it's only natural he'd inadvertently fall into keeping a part of his friend alive.

In their final moments together, Eddie not only makes Dustin promise that he would look after the other "little lost sheep" outcasts at Hawkins High, he also says that he loves him. It goes to show how much kindness was in him, despite dying with a tarnished reputation around town. Very few people, like Dustin, know the truth of what really went down regarding the shocking death of Chrissy Cunningham (Grace Van Dien) at the hands of Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). But Matarazzo believes Dustin becoming Eddie 2.0 is an unhealthy way of coping with his unprocessed grief (via SFX Magazine):

"It's tough to lose a person who's that influential to your confidence, and somebody you get along with so well. It's a pretty natural process for somebody that young who is grieving to try to physically embody somebody they've lost, to try to keep them around in some respect, which is, of course, unhealthy and just not a really good part of the grieving process. He doesn't seem to be going about it in a very productive way, but it's pretty accurate to how a lot of kids, I think, deal with grief."

It's interesting hearing Matarazzo talk about how Dustin's aesthetic and personality tribute partially comes at the expense of the innocent kid we grew to love. In his mind, losing one of the few people in his life to say that you're perfectly okay just the way you are is a pretty big blow. The key difference between the two characters, however, was that Eddie's edgy persona wasn't a deterrent among those who loved him, while it appears that Dustin's emulation has a negative effect going into the final season.

As these kids find themselves getting older in a world where an interdimensional rift tore their hometown wide open, it's natural to become a different person on the other side. Dustin had always been an outsider while alongside Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), but Matarazzo teased a schism that leaves him to deal with his loss in an unhealthy manner by lashing out at his friends (via SFX Magazine):

"It's by choice, though it seems like it's his desire to be let go of by that unit that was there. For some reason, a lot of people have a tendency to detach from their support systems when they need them most, and that's something he's been dealing with very clearly at the beginning of the show, and we see it in full swing."

Season 4 showed that Eddie's punk spirit hardly came at the cost of the company that stuck by him. It can't be the same for Dustin since Eddie is frustratingly considered a Satanic pariah among the Hawkins community. He can't let his friend die in vain. It would've been all too easy for a sci-fi show like "Stranger Things" to bend the rules of death and allow Quinn to reprise his role in season 5, but it's more impactful to let dead characters stay dead and watch how everyone else acts in their absence. Time will tell if Dustin is able to salvage Eddie's reputation and make sure Hawkins knows the truth about the legend behind Hellfire.

Volume 1 of "Stranger Things" season 5 will be available to stream on Netflix starting November 26, 2025.