Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson: The Time the Two Should Have Had on ‘Stranger Things’

I was rewatching the finale of Stranger Things 4 and was confronted by my own feelings on Eddie Munson’s death and the reality that his shared adopted son with Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, is going to have to deal with Eddie dying in his arms for the rest of his life. But then it got me thinking about Steve and Eddie and how the two slowly started to build a fascinating friendship throughout the season that was unfortunately cut off by the tragic ending. However, as is often the case, the internet isn’t about to let go as easily. Steve and Eddie’s relationship, both as potential friends and as a fan-generated romantic “ship,” has become one of the breakout topics of the summer.

Steve and Eddie had been in high school at the same time at one point but were in very different groups—Eddie the metalhead “freak” who ran the Dungeons & Dragons club, and Steve “the Hair” Harrington was, for the most part, the popular kid. Given the circumstances of Stranger Things 4, the two end up working together to take on Vecna and it gives us a fun dynamic to play with. Both of them care about Dustin, and when Dustin insists that Eddie is innocent and not responsible for Vecna’s murders, Steve and the others try to help Eddie out. Steve hasn’t really had a male friend his age to talk to since season 1, and fans loved their evolving dynamic, in addition to Steve’s best friend Robin getting to make friends (and in fanworks, often more) with Nancy. When it came to Steve and Eddie though, it felt like we had this build up to the two of them having a deeper understanding of one another, a great look into it’s like to bond with someone who seems like a polar opposite. But this all resulted in … well, pretty much nothing. Until the internet took over.

The online reception of the two since the start of season 4 has spawned the popular ship “Steddie” (Steve/Eddie obviously). It’s filled with adorable fan art, fanfiction, videos, and more of the two hanging out together and being in love, but it also is a clear indication that this was a missed opportunity to explore their relationship as a whole. Whether you ship Steve and Eddie romantically or platonically, they had a fun and compelling dynamic with each other that got ripped away from us way too soon. The fact that interest in them has only grown, not faded, since the season’s end shows this, as well as the incredible creativity of online fandom.

The thing is that there were so many moments that could have led to further amazing interactions next season, if Eddie hadn’t been callously killed off. Even if it was just a friendship where Steve finally had someone to talk to that was … sort of his age. Eddie admits that he thought Steve had to be an ass because he was good-looking, rich, popular, etc., but realized that Dustin was right in that Steve is a good dude. The two bond over the fact that they both want to be cool in the eyes of Dustin, and Stranger Things seemed to be setting up an unlikely new friendship and Eddie as a great new member of the Party. Instead, the season finale veers out-of-character, where we ended up getting both Eddie and Dustin telling Steve that they know they’re just the decoys and not the heroes, and instead of Steve having some great response to them that showed their importance, he just nods and leaves. Later on, after Eddie is dead, we only see Dustin upset about it. Steve, Robin, and Nancy, who all spent significant time with Eddie, aren’t shown to react at all. Sure they could have reacted off screen but…still.

Do I wish that in their final scene Steve had said to Eddie something like “I’m not a hero, we’re all in Mordor” or made some joke about how he doesn’t know Lord of the Rings or what they’re talking about most the time? Yes. Yes, I do. But more than that, I just wish that we had more time to explore their dynamic.

The fan reaction

Fans have flocked to shipping Steddie, which isn’t surprising. The two have a back and forth that just breathes “enemies” to lovers (I say “enemies” because they didn’t really hate each other beforehand, just more of a lack of knowing one another). It’s really an A+ example of “opposites to lovers.” And yes, of course, we can live in the world of fanfic, but what if I wanted to see more of these two in live-action anyway? Luckily, there are theories about how Eddie could come back. And lately in the Steddie fandom, the “Eddie comes back as a vampire” theory has taken firm hold and we’ve gotten to see a ton of beautiful fanworks revolving around that angsty and frankly thrilling concept. (Please make this actually happen, Duffer bros.)

Vampire Eddie’s return aside, there’s a lot of art that shows Steve and Eddie just getting to hang out and enjoy each other’s company. Considering the sheer amount of trauma in season 4 of Stranger Things, it’s a nice retreat for fans to imagine them listening to music together or swapping t-shirts. Like this beautiful artwork by Vic Nuckowska (@irplasticlamb on Twitter) that shows Eddie Munson introducing Steve Harrington to the band Black Sabbath. They also have incredible artwork for Robin/Nancy as well and shows just how talented the Stranger Things fandom is.

Or this gorgeous image from @AshterismArt:

There are also adorable doodles of the two as well. Too many to count, so we’re only featuring a few here for now.

Even the actors have gotten in on the fun.

All of this is to say that Eddie Munson deserved better at large, and we mourn the lost chance to see more interactions between him and Steve. He joins a club of freshly introduced characters who die in Hawkins who didn’t deserve it. So if anyone wants to draw Benny, Barb, Bob, Alexei, and Eddie all hanging out together and just thinking about how they died because of Vecna’s nonsense, I’d appreciate it.

But something special is happening with Eddie. The character is hugely popular world-wide, and in the weeks since the finale, this hasn’t abated at all. The Alexei and Bob fan in me is a little upset that my other deceased boys didn’t get the fan rallying cry but if anyone deserves a second chance out of the large Stranger Things death list, it’s Eddie Munson.

Ongoing theories about his return, tons of art, and all kinds of new content are being created about him daily. He features prominently on most of the Netflix merchandise that’s sold out. Netflix has recognized the staggering popularity of the character, going so far as to create an actual crop circle in a field in Indiana with Eddie’s face. Considering how much fans fell in love with Eddie and actor Joseph Quinn, it’s hard to imagine that season 5 won’t give us at least some kind of cameo return, perhaps in the same way that Dacre Montgomery’s Billy Hargrove returned in Vecna visions to torment Max. It’s all too easy to envision Eddie being used to torment poor Dustin, who’s no doubt traumatized by losing a friend he loves. But may we suggest going the vampire Eddie route? We’d love to see how he interacts with those he left behind as a newly risen creature of the night.

(image: Netflix)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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