Stranger Things fans have backed a petition to bring back Eddie Munson, following his emotional death in the season four finale.
The two-and-a-half-hour episode saw Eddie (Joseph Quinn) bow out of the Netflix series after creating a guitar-shredding distraction for his friends in the Upside Down. Although he initially managed to flee from a flock of bat-like creatures, he was soon killed after heroically standing his ground.
After witnessing these scenes, a fan of the show launched a Change.org petition to bring back the character, claiming he’d been “unfairly killed” off in what was his debut season.
At the time of writing, the petition has garnered over 20,000 signatures with a final target of 25,000.
The petition creator, who goes by the name of Maddy, wrote in summary: “This is a petition I have started to bring back fan favourite Eddie Munson.
“The Duffer Brothers have unfairly killed him off and many other fans and I think he deserves to be brought back and not just as a flashback, please sign this petition to spread awareness.”
The description added: “Stranger Things fans are kindly asking Netflix and the Duffer Brothers to bring back the fan favourite character Eddie Munson.”
Some of the fans who have signed the petition also left messages of support in the comments, with one person writing: “EDDIE DESERVES TO GRADUATE.”
Another wrote: “His death didn’t seem to have any meaning beyond shock value and it sucks to have such a good character thrown away like that.”
One supporter even suggested that some Stranger Things fans are cancelling their Netflix subscriptions due to the show killing him off.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Quinn said he had “no idea” that his character was going to die.
“I knew that I wasn’t optioned,” he said. “I had a feeling that we would finish his arc this season. I couldn’t have imagined the manner in which he would leave, but yeah, I think it’s a weird thing. It’s kind of bittersweet.”
On whether he’d like to return to the series in some capacity, he added: “I would love to go back to that set and to see those people again. But sometimes there’s a beautiful arc that they’ve written and he’s such an empathetically written role and they’re very rare, these kind of roles.
“It feels a little bit like a lottery ticket and I feel incredibly grateful, but it’s a shame not to be able to come back. Onwards.”
Elsewhere, Quinn’s co-star Sadie Sink recently opened up about season four’s “heartbreaking” ending for her character Max Mayfield.
