Stranger Things already had our heart but this new season revealed a brand new exciting character, a freaky metalhead, Eddie Munson. Played by the english actor Joseph Quinn, Eddie is a sixth-year senior at Hawkins High School and the leader of The Hellfire Club. He’s a friend of Dustin and Mike and a total freak. He scared everyone but he turned out to be a sweetheart.
The look, the story, the tattoos… Everything’s here for a reason. Here are a few people who inspired The Duffer Brothers to create Eddie:
Eddie Van Halen
Ok, this one was REALLY easy. The name, the hair, the look, everything is so Van Halen…
Iron Maiden
His name was probably also inspired by the famous creepy Iron Maiden’s mascot: Eddie The Head. Since No Prayer for the Dying , the skeleton appeared on every album covers, travelling from a world to another.
DIO
Ronnie James Dio was the replacement vocalist for Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath and the original lead singer in the band Rainbow. Eddie’s patch jacket is actuallys from Ronnie James Dio‘s personal estate. The chains also remind us of Ronnie famous look and the cover album of their debut album Holy Diver in 1983. In the song of the same name, Satan descends into Hell to wash away his sins and become somebody new.
Kiss
Eddie’s rock’n’roll attitude, mainly in his first scene with his tongue and his devil horns hands, makes us think of Gene Simmons. His character is making the show and gives people exactly what they are waiting for: a good scare and a moment of fun, just like the band Kiss.
Black Sabbath
Have you noticed the bats tattooed on Eddie’s arm? In the upside down he also has a conversasion with Steve about his fight with the demo bats and how metal of him it was to bite one of them like Ozzy. The rockstar did it in January 1982 during a gig in Des Moines. In part two, Eddie plays a guitar solo in the upside down surrounded by these demo bats. As Stranger Things seems to enjoy killing really likeable characters, we’re scared for Eddie’s life. How ironic would it be to be eaten by them this time (but please don’t make it happen).
Damien Echols (American writer)
Munson’s tragic story is based on a real-life individual called Damien Echols. Not a rockstar but pretty famous from bands, Echols and two friends of him, Jessie and Jasin, were arrested in 1993 for the satanic murder of three eight-year-olds. In Stranger Things, Mike and Dustin are in his D&D club accused of being a satanic group of young people promoting ritual sacrifice, suicide and murder. Eddie is the leader of this club and he’s wanted by the police after the murder of a cheerleader at his place.
What solo guitare is he playing in the upside down?
That’s a real question… Musicians speculate about it,and it feels like the song could be The Final Countdown by Europe or Master of Puppets by Metallica, a perfect weapon of choice to save the world from Vecna at the end of season 4. But if Eddie is just playing to save Nancy, it could also be a song from the Steve’s mixtape like the remix of Separate Ways by The Journey released in 1983.
ABOVE THE NOISE 