We always knew the cast of Stranger Things would be a little bit lighter at the end of season 4 part 2, but there was a big question mark hanging over who would be exiting the show ahead of season 5.

Nancy was in quite the pickle when we left her at the end of the last chapter, while Max was right at the top of Vecna’s hit list after she and Kate Bush totally embarrassed him by escaping his slimy talons.

But it was newbie Eddie Munson, played by Joseph Quinn, who met his maker during the final battle.

“I think there’s a great beginning, there’s a great middle and a great end for the character,” he told RadioTimes.com.

“And as an actor you want characters with those kinds of arcs. So whilst it would have been great to come back for another season and get together with all those lovely people again, I think it was a brilliantly realised ending for a brilliantly written character.”

He added: “It was so thrilling to do on the day. Me and Gaten [Matarazzo, who plays Dustin] were on top of on top of the caravan in the middle of the Upside-Down playing Metallica. And it was great fun.

“And also, I think the timing of it was brilliant. For the whole crew, it felt like the first time that people had been in a live music kind of situation since the pandemic, so it was a joyous celebration on the day.

“It’s a fantastic conclusion to the character and yeah, I feel very very lucky.”

Quinn said that he’d “obviously” love to return for more Stranger Things action if the opportunity arose (death didn’t stop Dacre Montgomery from returning as Billy, or a version of him, at least) – and he has a killer idea for his character.

“Me and Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) were discussing ways in which I could kind of…maybe I’d be like a figment of Gaten’s imagination or something,” he said. “Like if there could be some kind of room for something like that, something a bit supernatural.

“But my suspicion is that Eddie has done what he needed to do for the [Duffer] brothers.”

Still, perhaps his presence could be felt in other ways…

“I think it would be nice for him to kind of have his name cleared,” he continued. “I think that would be satisfying for the audience. I think Eddie paid such a…he made the ultimate sacrifice for a town that thought he was a monster, which is a level of heroism that’s kind of hard to comprehend.

“But as I said, I’m not allowed in the writers’ room, so we’ll see what the grown ups think.”

Additional reporting by Huw Fullerton.