It’s nearly time to return to Hawkins once again as the first trailer for Stranger Things Season 5 has everyone talking. Eleven and Hopper are back. Max seems to be hanging in there. And, oh, look, it’s Linda Hamilton!
There’s one person who seemingly won’t be joining in on the fun this time: Eddie Munson. The fan-favorite character played by Joseph Quinn sacrificed himself to fend off an army of demobats while jamming out to Metallica on his electric guitar in Stranger Things Season 4. The town may still hate him, but Eddie died a hero nonetheless.
Unless? Is he really, truly dead? Is there a chance that Eddie could return for the final season of the Netflix show? Let’s put it this way: stranger things have happened.
There are hints that Eddie Munson will show up in Stranger Things Season 5
Quinn’s Eddie isn’t anywhere to be seen in the Stranger Things Season 5 trailer; however, his legacy can still be felt. Most notably, there’s a shot where Dustin goes to visit his grave and pay his respects. While this should be a sweet moment, there’s also some bitterness to it: someone has given his tombstone the Carrie treatment and painted “BURN IN HELL” on it.
Now, that isn’t outright confirmation that Eddie is going to be resurrected or anything. Rather, it suggests that there’s more to his story that we haven’t seen yet and could be explored. There are all kinds of Reddit theories regarding what this could look like.
Something else that’s important to remember is that Eddie was a huge character — everyone went into Stranger Things Season 4 excited to hang out with their old chums again, but all those same people could talk about after it was over was Eddie. Hellfire Club merchandise quickly became a thing, as did Eddie Funkos, t-shirts, and more.
So, it’d make sense that Eddie does play into the story of Stranger Things Season 5, in some capacity. And let’s not forget that Quinn vaguely teased he could be coming back at Megaton 2025, either.
Eddie isn’t likely to play a big role in Season 5
All that being said, if Eddie is part of Stranger Things Season 5, he probably won’t be in there for very long. There are a couple of reasons for this: perhaps the most notable being Quinn’s schedule.
Quinn’s career blew up after Stranger Things Season 4, as he’s recently been seen in 2024’s A Quiet Place: Day One, 2024’s Gladiator II, and 2025’s Warfare. Now, he’s joining the MCU as Johnny Storm — a role that will see him star in Avengers: Doomsday after The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Given how busy he is and how long of a production Stranger Things Season 5 had, he probably won’t be in there for much, if at all. And if he were on the Season 5 set for a sizable amount of time, photos of him almost certainly would have leaked online.
From a plot perspective, Stranger Things hasn’t really dealt with full-on resurrection that would be required in order for Eddie to return. The closest example we’ve had of this is Max; however, her heart only stopped for a minute or so, while Eddie was full-on, definitively killed by the demobats. Stranger Things Season 5 will likely be full of surprises, but giving him the Jesus Christ treatment might be a little much and cause some tonal shifts.
If anything, it seems likely that Eddie will return in a flashback scene or two. But who knows! It’s Stranger Things we’re talking about, here. Always expect the unexpected!
