Jamie Campbell Bower Finally Issues Public Apology Over Tragic Stranger Things Death

Jamie Campbell Bower did the thing. He looked into the camera and said sorry for what Vecna did to Eddie. It was quick, it was cheeky, and it immediately reopened one of Stranger Things' sorest wounds. And while that was happening, new details about how Season 5 kicks off and rolls out landed too. So yeah, we have feelings and we have facts.

Jamie Campbell Bower says sorry (kind of)

On Nov 14, 2025, Bower tossed out a public apology for Eddie Munson's death in the Stranger Things 4: Vol. 2 finale. It was short and very much with a wink, but it counts.

"I am sorry about that"

Why Eddie Munson still stings

Eddie was the metalhead heartbeat of Season 4, blamed for a murder he did not commit and shunned by half of Hawkins. When it mattered, he stayed put in the Upside Down to buy his friends time, ripping through a feral rendition of Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' to bait the Demobats. They swarmed, he went down, and it hurt. His choice carries straight into the final season: the fight against Vecna is personal now.

Season 5 opens in pure nightmare mode

Per Variety, the premiere episode, titled 'The Crawl,' drops us back into the Upside Down with a young Will Byers. He quietly sings The Clash's 'Should I Stay or Should I Go' to steady himself, then a Demogorgon pounces. Will scrambles up a tree, takes a brutal fall, blacks out, and gets dragged to Vecna's lair. Vines wrap him up, one covering his mouth, and then the show lays down a chill-inducing greeting.

"At long last, we can begin. You and I, we are going to do such beautiful things together."

The last ride: what to expect

The mission is simple on paper: find Vecna and end him. Harder in practice when his lair is MIA, Hawkins is under a military clampdown, and Eleven is laying low while being hunted. The season promises answers about the Upside Down and a real conclusion for the core group.

• Release plan: 8 episodes, dropping in three waves in fall 2025 on Netflix (U.S.) — Episodes 1-4 on Nov 26, Episodes 5-7 on Dec 25, and the finale on Dec 31
• When and where: Fall 1987 in Hawkins, Indiana
• Time jump: About 18 months have passed; the group reunites in a Hawkins locked down by the military to paper over the portal disaster
• Season focus: Track down a missing Vecna lair, survive the quarantine, and stop the Big Bad once and for all while Eleven hides from the people chasing her
• Big themes: Final battle with Vecna; uncovering what the Upside Down really is; wrapping arcs for Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Max, and Lucas
• Spotlights: Will Byers' feelings and trauma get real attention; Dustin is working through grief and change
• Climax: Expect the endgame to center on Eleven versus Vecna
• Episode titles: 1) The Crawl, 2) The Vanishing of …, 3) The Turnbow Trap, 4) Sorcerer, 5) Shock Jock, 6) Escape from Camazotz, 7) The Bridge, 8) The Rightside Up

Hawkins' fate is genuinely up in the air, and Eleven is sharpening the tools for a final, ugly fight.

So, does Bower's little apology take the edge off Eddie's exit for you, or does it just poke the bruise?