The One Frame in the Stranger Things Trailer That Confirms Eddie Munson Is Back
Eddie Munson may not be gone for good. A rising fan theory ties Hawkins to Dungeons and Dragons lore, predicting the fifth and final season will resurrect him as Kas the vampire—the nemesis fated to take down Vecna.
Stranger Things 5 is almost here, which means it is officially wild fan-theory season again. The current front-runner: Eddie Munson comes back as a vampire and takes out Vecna. Yes, really. Let’s walk through why people think that, what the Duffers actually said about Joseph Quinn returning, and how the team is talking about the final stretch.
The Eddie-as-Kas theory, in plain English
Fans are connecting the show’s mythology with its favorite reference point, Dungeons & Dragons. In D&D lore, Vecna is ultimately betrayed and defeated by his own vampire lieutenant, Kas. On the show, Eddie died last season after getting chewed up by DemoBats. Put those together and you get the theory: those bites turned Eddie into something vampiric, and he’s coming back in Season 5 to play the Kas role and finish Vecna.
Fuel on the fire: around the 2:18 mark of the Season 5 trailer, there’s a quick shot of Vecna scrapping with an unknown, seriously powerful opponent. To theory-crafters, it looks a lot like the Kas-versus-Vecna dynamic from the game. If the parallels hold, Eddie would swoop in, undead and heroic, and save the day.
But the Duffers say Eddie is not coming back
Joseph Quinn has been coy about it. At a convention last year, he teased that he knows the answer but wouldn’t spill it. Fun for the crowd, not exactly clarity.
Then the creators shut the door. In a new interview with Empire, the Duffer Brothers said Joseph Quinn — who is now starring in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four — will not be in Season 5. They did not mince words:
"I love that Joe Quinn is toying with people! But no, he's dead. Joe is so busy anyway, that everyone should know he's not coming back. He's shot like five movies since! When the hell has he got time to come and shoot 'Stranger Things'? No, sadly, RIP. He's fully under that ground."
That is...pretty definitive. And yet, this fandom loves a twist, so the hope is still very much alive.
About that ending everyone is worried about
Stranger Things is under the microscope for its finale, because we all remember how other giant shows flamed out at the finish line. The team is very aware of that. Producer-director Shawn Levy told Variety they’ve seen beloved series break fans’ hearts in the end and they refuse to be one of them. The Duffers say they mapped this last chapter to connect all the big pieces and close every door they opened.
"We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters. This is a complete story. It's done."
Netflix’s chief creative officer Bela Bajaria says they spent as much money as they needed to get that vision on screen. And the cast has been saying the ending is better than they hoped, which is exactly what you want to hear right now.
When Season 5 drops
- Volume 1: November 26, 2025
- Volume 2: December 25, 2025
- Series finale: December 31, 2025
So, will Eddie rise from the grave with a taste for Vecna? The showrunners say no. The trailer teases say...maybe. I wouldn’t bet my holiday week on it, but I get why the theory has teeth.