Eddie's Guitar Playing Wasn't In The Original Stranger Things 4 Script
Warning: Spoilers ahead for season 4 of "Stranger Things."
"Stranger Things" is no stranger to creating some of the most easily identifiable pop culture moments in recent years. Who could forget the onslaught of shaved heads, bloody noses, and Eggo waffles after the show's debut in 2016, or the Scoops Ahoy partnership with Baskin-Robbins that had us all wishing we were ice-cream slinging sailors? It seems that despite the retrospective appreciation of Kate Bush and the killer look of Vecna and the popularity of Surfer Boy Pizza, the undisputed king of "Stranger Things" season 4 memorable (and merchandisable) moments belongs to Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) and all things Hellfire Club. As the dungeon master of Hawkins High School's Dungeons & Dragons club, Eddie Munson became the most useful member of the "Stranger Things" crew, utilizing the power of metal to destroy Demobats and perform the sickest guitar solo in all the Upside Down.
In the series' climatic battle, Eddie Munson stands on top of his trailer and starts shredding a rendition of Metallica's "Master of Puppets." The show's usage of the song introduced a new generation to the band and even inspired them to pay tribute to the character by playing a duet with him on TikTok. The moment is largely considered to be one of the greatest bits of visual storytelling shown on "Stranger Things" as a series, but thanks to a recent interview with co-creators and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer for Netflix Geeked, we've learned that the moment almost didn't happen. As it turns out, the coolest, most ass-kicking moment of season 4 wasn't even in the original script.
'We have to do that'
"We didn't have the idea early on that Eddie was going to be playing Metallica," said Matt Duffer. As it turns out, the idea came from writer Curtis Gwinn, who made the suggestion to have him play the song as a means to distract the Demobats. "And we fell in love with that idea," he continued. "We're like, 'We have to do that.'" Fortunately, the idea came before they had shot anything for the new season, so they were able to go back to previous episodes and sprinkle in little references to Eddie's musicianship so his guitar playing wouldn't feel like it came out of nowhere.
Elements of him being in a band were included, as was, most prominently, the discussion about music Eddie has with Chrissy Cunningham in the forest. "That scene with him and Chrissy, which is one of my favorite scenes, humanized him in a real way and humanized Chrissy in a real way, was sort of a 'whatever' scene," he said. "So that scene we're able to layer in not just the fact that he has this band, we were able to humanize him." The result was clearly beneficial, as the moment with Chrissy is arguably what sparked the flame that lit up his fandom, because it allowed audiences to see the real Eddie, not the Satanic Panic-esque caricature Hawkins made him out to be. Gwinn's suggestion of playing Metallica completely changed the course of Eddie's character, and the show is better for it.