Despite Major Prep, Joseph Quinn’s Hero Moment on Stranger Things Needed a Surprising Duo

Stranger Things gave us a lot of big moments, but Eddie Munson going out in a blaze of metal is the one that still lives rent-free in my head. That guitar solo? Legendary. Also, a little bit of movie magic: those close-up shredding hands weren’t Joseph Quinn’s. Enter guitarist Aidan Fisher. Quinn can play, but for the tight shots, the production brought in a ringer. And yes, Quinn basically ran himself into the ground preparing for that scene.

The solo, the double, and the grind

Quinn, who’s now headed into the MCU, told The Hollywood Reporter he worked to the point of exhaustion getting ready to pull off Eddie’s big moment. Even with his own guitar chops, the series still used Fisher for the finger-focused close-ups. Not exactly shocking for a high-stakes sequence like that, but it’s a cool little behind-the-scenes wrinkle that explains why the solo looks and sounds so clean on camera.

How Joseph Quinn built Eddie

• Music homework: He told Vanity Fair he immersed himself in Black Sabbath to prep for the heavy-metal vibe of the scene.
• Tabletop deep dive: Because Eddie is a Dungeon Master, Quinn threw himself into DnD to make the role feel legit.
• The look: He dieted down to pass as an 18-year-old and tried on a bunch of wild, long-haired wigs to land the right 80s metalhead silhouette.

At one point, production considered going way more stylized with his appearance. As Quinn put it:

"They wanted to go full David Bowie, Labyrinth insanity. Unfortunately, I don’t have the bone structure for that."

Between the music homework, the DnD crash course, and the physical makeover, he locked into Eddie’s mannerisms and attitude so well that the character still looms large as the show heads into its final stretch. It’s also why fans keep campaigning for Eddie to somehow show up in Season 5.

Why Eddie exists at all

The Duffer Brothers have said Eddie came straight from their own high school daydreams. Talking to The Times, they explained he was written to be the kind of person they wished had swooped in and saved them back then.

"We created the character of Eddie [Joseph Quinn's heavy-metal antihero in season four] because that's who we wish existed in high school to rescue us!"

That explains why he arrived in Season 4 feeling fully formed and instantly relatable. He wasn’t just comic relief or cannon fodder; he was the beating heart of that season’s arc.

Where things stand

Stranger Things spans 5 seasons, created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, with a core cast that includes Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, and Gaten Matarazzo. It sits at an 8.6/10 on IMDb and streams on Netflix. If you’re still not over Eddie, you’re definitely not alone.

How are you feeling about Eddie Munson these days? Still hoping for a miracle return in Season 5, or do you like the ending as is?