While Eddie Munson met his heroic death in Stranger Things Season 4, fans got to cling onto the character for a bit longer in the prequel novel, Flight of Icarus. While diving into Eddie’s heartbreaking backstory before becoming everyone’s favorite metalhead, is the novel worth a prequel series?
Set in 1984, Eddie is in his first attempt of trying to get by senior year and get out of Hawkins one way or the other. In the book, fans meet a much more innocent Eddie who has yet to find his way in the world and in a town that hates him. Not to mention, fans learn more about the sad story of his mother’s death and her musical influence on him. As well as the seedlings of Hellfire Club.
When an LA junior music scout returns to Hawkins, Eddie sees a glimmer of hope for a better life. But nothing comes easy to the Munsons when Eddie’s father miraculously returns to ask his son for help. Between possibly becoming a rockstar, dealing with a town that loathes him, and his father, Eddie’s life takes a dramatic turn.
Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus is a look into a one-off on-screen character that fans fell in love with, but can it make it to the small screen? Warning: mild spoilers ahead!
Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus is a perfect look into who Eddie Munson is
While Stranger Things fans may find themselves falling in love and sympathizing with Eddie even more in Flight of Icarus, the novel is better left as a written story than in an on-screen prequel.
That’s right, it was said, but there are a few reasons why. The book itself is a great read and one fans cannot put down. Above all, it details the many cracks in Eddie’s heart; how behind the rings, leather jacket, and metal music is a boy trying who tried to find a place in the world. Caitlin Schneiderhan’s novel details the gravity of Eddie’s fight against a town that doesn’t want to see him as more than a “delinquent” and bad influence. Neither of these are true.
Eddie is a young guy broken by the loss of his mother and father’s abandonment. He only has Hellfire Club and music as a saving grace. When Paige comes into town, he gets an opportunity to become a rockstar. She’s the embodiment of what he could be. But it dies by the end of the book. Why? Because the world is always against him.
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Flight of Icarus is a great way for fans to set some time away to really get to know Eddie for who he was before embracing the Hellfire leader role in Season 4. But it’s also one of the reasons why it wouldn’t work on-screen.
The story itself feels like a one-off and it’s hard to wrap your head around it while knowing the events of Stranger Things are happening at the same time. Eddie’s story feels like its own bubble away from the hit Netflix series. Not to mention Joseph Quinn would have to return and look much younger than he appeared in Season 4. The book also ties in the original Hellfire members, Chrissy, Jason, and a very young Will Byers at the end.
To be fair, the character of Paige wasn’t all she was made out to be. She sees Eddie for who he could be, and develops a fling with him. At the end of the day, there’s no real tie to her besides Eddie’s one chance at stardom. Could Netflix create a prequel? Yes. Would fans watch it? 100%. But is it needed? No.
While the Duffer brothers have developed an on-stage prequel with Henry Creel, Eddie’s story is more of an understanding of who he is than a dynamic on-screen possibility. It makes his heroic death in Stranger Things 4 more heartbreaking and gives it a deeper meaning.
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