Stranger Things: How Eddie's Demise Will Affect Dustin in the Finale

Stranger Things Season 4 did not end with a triumphant conclusion compared to the previous seasons. Sadly, the Hawkins gang lost to Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), and their city now suffers the consequences. But the loss was more difficult for Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) after he lost his newfound best friend, Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn).

In a recent interview with TV Insider, Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo weighs in on how Eddie Munson's demise could possibly affect Dustin in the upcoming Season 5 of the Netflix hit. Although he is clueless about what the Duffer Brothers plan for his character, he imagines that Dustin would have a hard time processing Eddie's death since he didn't much have closure with it and just left his body on the Upside Down.

"I don’t know what [Matt and Ross Duffer] have in store and writing-wise, but I think going into it, there’s no denying that there’s going to need to be a shift there and there’s going to need to be a bit of focus on the fact that nobody can really come back from seeing that," Matarazzo said.

“[Dustin] has dealt with loss in the past," he added. "He’s seen horrible things, but to have a very close friend of his brutally die, not just there in front of him, but directly with him is [another thing]. The one thing that I’m always thinking about going into it is that we don’t necessarily see it happen, but Dustin would’ve had to have left [Eddie] there to get out and leave himself. And that’s something that I was thinking about during the scene with Eddie’s uncle. Because of the leg injury and because of Dustin’s lack of upper body strength, he would’ve needed to leave [Eddie’s] body there while needing to get out himself. And if they’re going to play with that, it’s something I’ll be thinking about quite a lot.”

Gaten Matarazzo's Dustin is unquestionably the most beloved character in the series. Although his friendship with Eddie Munson was brief, there's no denying Eddie made a tremendous impact with Dustin that would certainly be significant in the finale.

Thankfully, it seems Eddie Munson actor Joseph Quinn is interested to reprise the role in the finale, recently sharing his idea about returning as a figment of Dustin's memories, just like what happened with Billy Hargrove's (Dacre Montgomery) Season 4 return through Max's (Sadie Sink) memories.

"Me and Joe Keery were discussing ways in which I could kind of...maybe I'd be like a figment of Gaten's imagination or something. Like if there could be some kind of room for something like that, something a bit supernatural," Quinn told RadioTimes.

The entirety of Stranger Things Season 4 is available to stream on Netflix.

Also read: Stranger Things Season 4 Star Joseph Quinn Detained at US Airport