Are Matt and Ross Duffer (aka the Duffer Brothers) actual metalheads? If they aren’t, they must really respect our genre because Season 4 of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ has plenty of cool heavy metal homages sprinkled throughout.
*Warning, Spoiler Alerts Ahead* – if you haven’t finished season 4 yet, you’re about to get Vecna’d.
Eddie’s Dio Jacket Was Made Using Items from Ronnie James Dio’s Personal Estate
Eddie Munson (played by Joe Quinn) is a pivotal character in the show this season. He’s the leader and dungeon master of the Hellfire Club, Hawkins High’s Dungeons & Dragons group. He’s also the resident metalhead, donning a Dio jacket throughout pretty much every scene of the season. What’s extra special, though, is that it’s actually a jacket from Ronnie James Dio‘s personal estate.
Via an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, show costume designer Amy Parris shares how they got a hold of this Dio jacket. Parris speaks to reaching out to the estate of the late Ronnie James Dio and requesting the jacket:
“I love Eddie. I think Eddie feels so real. And he’s wearing one thing, because he’s in that outfit the whole time, so I really focused and zeroed in on making sure everything in that outfit was authentic. He’s a fan of wizard metal, he’s a fan of Dio. He’s a fan of Metallica. Actually, Dio was a popular band in the ’80s, and we reached out to the estate [of the late Ronnie James Dio to source a band shirt]. His wife is in charge of his estate and offered to send us vintage T-shirts, which was such a dream.”
Ronnie’s widow, Wendy Dio, also recently weighed in on how the Dio jacket in Stranger Things came to be:
“What happened was, originally, this was before the pandemic hit. So this was like two, two-and-a-half years ago. They contacted me because I had to sign the license, because you can’t just use a Dio product without a license.”
“They were very happy and they were very thankful, and they sent me a bunch of Stranger Things stuff, so it was really wonderful. I was so happy because then I didn’t see or hear about anything, and I thought, ‘Oh, I guess they didn’t use it.’ And then suddenly now, after the pandemic, I saw it and I was like, ‘Oh my god this is so wonderful, I’m so happy about it.’ Ronnie would’ve been so… he would’ve loved that.”
“Dio is happening right now, I’m so glad. The younger kids’ generation, I think it’s the first time in history where the kids are listening to their parents’ music.”
Eddie’s Jacket Has a W.A.S.P. Pin
While not always visible depending on the scene, Eddie dons a W.A.S.P. pin on the left pocket. W.A.S.P. of course being the infamous shock-rock band that started in the early 80’s and who has since sold over 12 million records.
Robert Trujillo’s Son, Tye, & Kirk Hammett Played Guitar on the Track Used in the ‘Master of Puppets’ Scene
Eddie is Holding an Iron Maiden ‘Piece of Mind’ Cassette in Episode 8
With Nancy under Vecna’s trance, Robin rushes to find a cassette tape of music that they can use to wake her up, similarly to the effect that Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ had on an earlier episode in waking up Max when Vecna had her in his clutches.
It’s a bit of a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment, but as Robin furiously flips through Eddie’s cassette collection, she mocks the metal (“What IS all this shit? Madonna, Blondie, Bowie, Beatles? Music! We need music!).
Eddie angrily grabs and clutches a tape (which on pause you can see is none other than Iron Maiden’s 1983 album, ‘Piece of Mind’).
In a defense of the genre he bellows “THIS IS MUSIC”! Right on, Eddie.
Did we miss any other heavy metal-related nuggets in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4? Leave us a comment on social media or drop us a note here on the site if we did.