“Stranger Things” has always treated its central heroes with a more merciful touch than it has its supporting characters. Barb Holland (Shannon Purser), for instance, meets a brutal fate early in “Stranger Things” Season 1 while her best friend, Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), pointedly doesn’t. Since then, the series has gone on to kill off fan-favorite characters like Bob Newby (Sean Astin), Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery), and Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn). The latter character’s death made such an impact among fans that over 80,000 of them have signed a petition demanding that he return to “Stranger Things” in Season 5.

Eddie, notably, dies in an episode that also features the near-death of Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), who is still stuck in a coma when “Stranger Things” Season 4 ends. Her ultimate fate is still unclear, but all of this is to note that the Netflix series hasn’t ever come across as entirely danger-free. In 2022, the show’s creators defended their decision not to kill off any of its main characters throughout its first four seasons. “Just as a complete hypothetical, if you kill Mike (Finn Wolfhard), it’s like … that’s depressing … we aren’t ‘Game of Thrones,'” Matt Duffer said during an appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “This is Hawkins, it’s not Westeros.”

Of course, with “Stranger Things” Season 5 set to wrap up the show’s story, the Netflix series may address Gaten Matarazzo’s criticism before everything is said and done by killing off some of its original characters. Only time will tell.

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