Some Stranger Things fans are over the Eddie Munson hype on TikTok. Ever since the Dungeons and Dragons-playing metalhead showed up in season 4, the app has played host to tributes, cosplay creations, countless remixes of "Chrissy, Wake Up", and more, and now subscribers have started lashing out over the character's dominating presence.
As spelled out in a report by Rolling Stone, TikTok user Naomie Lapointe recently posted clips of her time at a Chicago-based comic expo, which led to a run-in with the anti-Eddie crowd. At the event, she was dressed up as Steve Harrington – right after he gets attacked by Demobats in the Upside Down – but managed to find a myriad of Munsons on the day, and filmed herself singing and dancing with the lot of them.
Less than 24 hours after the video went live, the 24-year-old received replies that claimed "'new fans' were ruining the show" and that "cosplay is so cringe." Lapointe told the publication that the comments left her feeling a little "discouraged", and she's not the only one who has been subject to mean-spirited gatekeeping.
@yoyo.cosplay ♬ original sound - Ilum Audios
Sapphire, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter, was forced to turn off the comments on all of their "Eddie Baby" posts after their track 'Eddie's Song' was released on Spotify. Referencing Eddie's tragic death on the show, it talks about the grief felt by Steve and Dustin (Henderson), who held Eddie (Joseph Quinn) as he bled out from his Demobat bites.
"I'm sorry but I miss 2019 Stranger Things fandom right now," one person wrote on a video, according to Rolling Stone. "He was present for ONE season," said another.
The backlash hasn't gone unnoticed on other social media platforms either. "I cannot understand how people on TikTok are denouncing the Stranger Things fandom as a whole just bc some girl wrote a fansong for Eddie Munson. None of you would've survived broadwaystuck," one Twitter user tweeted.
"Every time I stumble upon a TikTok about hating Eddie Munson cosplayers, I just block them. tapping 'not interested' is not enough," said another. "I need to block them and never see them again. Let [people] enjoy fandoms and do what they want."
If you still can't get enough of Hawkins-related content, check out our breakdown of the Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 ending and how it all sets up Stranger Things season 5, or our spoiler-heavy list of who dies in Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2. If you're not keen to dwell on the darker stuff, though, we've rounded up all of the fun Stranger Things season 4, Volume 2 Easter eggs here.
