Stranger Things Introduces a new audience to Master of Puppets

Eddie Munson absolutely slays a rendition of Metallica’s Master of Puppets to fans’ delight!

Metallica posted a video of themselves playing “Master of Puppets” alongside clips from Netflix’s Most-Watched English series on Friday because they are still in awe of the series finale’s use of the song.

The band plays in synchronization as Eddie Munson (played by Joseph Quinn), who has involuntarily become involved in Doja Cat’s internet feud with co-star Noah Schnapp, smashes through the metal anthem to try to divert demons in the Upside-Down in the minute-long clip. Metallica captioned the video, “This is for you, Eddie!”

Thanks to its significant role in the Stranger Things fourth season finale, “Master of Puppets” has experienced a revival among younger listeners comparable to Kate Bush’s “Running you that Hill”.

Metallica recently said stated, “The way The Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Stranger Things Introduces new audience to Master of Puppets’ in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,”

“We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did, we were totally blown away… it’s so extremely well done, so much so, that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer!! How crazy cool is that?”

They continued, “It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”

It’s likely that you have been unable to resist the hype surrounding Metallica’s Master of Puppets’ appearance in Stranger Things, whether you’ve watched the series, listened to the band, or neither. The band even responded to a gatekeeping fan who attempted to be spiteful about the whole affair by slamming him down when Master of Puppets shot to the top of viral charts throughout the world.

The truth is metal fans (generally) appreciate it when our world receives an unexpected acknowledgment in a prominent movie or TV show. While Eddie Munson has been confirmed as the internet’s favorite TV metal head in a generation and the appearance of Master of Puppets in Stranger Things may be the coolest heavy metal scene in film and television history, these ten iconic examples show that it is far from the first.

Slayer’s Angel of Death in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Although Joe Dante’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch was criticized for lacking some of its predecessor’s genuine horror shivers, one scene, in particular, the Stranger Things Introduces a new audience to Master of Puppets, is still a perennial favorite. A terrible and messy transformation into a terrifying Gremlin-tarantula hybrid occurs after one of our scaly, “Master of Puppets” pointy-eared friends drink a weird beverage labeled with a spider symbol, all set to the sweet, sweet sounds of Slayer’s Angel of Death. That is the pinnacle of metal.

Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls in Zombieland (2009)

Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland was the (literally) all-guns-blazing box office swing at a zombie comedy that many of us had been waiting for, despite the fact that films like Shaun of The Dead and Braindead had already demonstrated that zombie legend was ripe for gory laughter. Not only was the movie a box office and critical success, but its opening credits, which featured frantic, violent, slow-motion zombie action and Metallica’s for Whom the Bell Tolls, continue to rank among the best movie openers of all time for Stranger Things Introduces new audience to Master of Puppets.

Metallica’s Master of Puppets in Zombieland: Double Tap

In fact, that movie’s classic opening was so well received that Ruben Fleischer deliberately pulled the same ruse ten years later for his own sequel. It was nevertheless fun to watch Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock blast their way through more zombie bell ends, to the tune of the biggest metal band of them all, even though the movie itself felt like it was spinning its wheels for most of the (very hollow) plot.

Motörhead’s Ace of Spades in Severance (2022)

The secretive Lumon corporation’s employees have their brains “severed” so that every time they leave their unsettling, Facebook-like office, they essentially transform into a completely different person in Apple TV+’s bizarre and clever Severance. Irving, a prim and proper job worth, is one of the main characters. In a crucial scene, it is revealed that he is truly a wounded soul hooked on repeatedly painting nightmare black hellscapes, which turns everything on its head. And the none-more-metal soundtrack accompanying his drawings? The Ace of Spades by Motörhead. Boom! That dude, now that’s our style.

Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song in Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Immigrant Song, a fantastic example of heavy-riffed, bug-eyed, proto-metal magnificence, was published the same year as Black Sabbath’s debut album but Led Zeppelin’s early albums significantly precede heavy metal as we know it. The track was used to stunning effect in director Taika Waititi’s brilliant MCU romp Thor: Ragnarok, most notably during the film’s climactic scene on the Bifrost Bridge, where Thor regains his strength, summons a shitload of lightning power, and decimates a large group of villains, all in glorious slow motion and set to some thundering Jimmy Page riffs.

Black Sabbath’s Iron in Iron Man (2008)

Even though it couldn’t equal Led Zeppelin’s star turn in Thor: Ragnarok, the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) canon established a precedent for the use of heavy metal in contemporary superhero movie legend. The film’s clever “I am Iron Man” declaration by Tony Stark at the very end dismantled the clichés surrounding superhero movies’ “hidden identities.” The scene’s flawless use of Black Sabbath’s colossal Iron Man was the cherry on top. The future of blockbuster movies seemed uncertain.

Rage Against the Machine’s Wake Up in The Matrix (1999)

The majority of the on-screen music in The Matrix is techno ‘Master of Puppets lyrics’, or at the very least techno remixes of songs like Rob Zombie’s Dragula, which makes sense given the film’s themes. But by the time the movie is through, we’ve all taken the blue pill and realized how real the world is. We get an authentic banger in Rage Against the Machine’s Wake Up as Neo (Keanu Reeves) threatens to free the rest of mankind before taking off into the sky, Superman-style, against the forces of The Matrix.

Quireboys’ You Don’t Love Me Any More in Peacemaker (2022)

The Suicide Squad spin-off Peacemaker is essentially a love letter to the hair metal period dressed up as a superhero comedy series, starting with its jaw-dropping opening titles. I Don’t Love You Any More by bandana-clad British hard rock warhorses the Quireboys plays over the action in the big fight sequence starring John Cena’s semi-naked hero with the woman he met in a bar later revealed to be a shape-shifting assassin sent to kill him in episode one. The Quireboys may not technically be considered metal, but this song is simply too iconic to leave out.

Judas Priest’s, You Got Another Thing Comin’ in Archer (2020)

After three seasons of genre-bending, FFX’s Archer made the most spectacular comeback to its fundamental structure (a Bond-style spy thriller combined with The Office). The eleventh season began with a heist adventure that quickly escalated into a gunfight and automobile (bike?) chase, all set to Judas Priest’s classic 1982 song You Got Another Thing Comin’. The program gets bonus points for bringing in a van that has been spray painted with a metal eagle in the style of Screaming for Vengeance, complete with the pun Screaming For Van-glance.

Nine Inch Nails’ Dead Souls in The Crow (1994) 

Batman, directed by Tim Burton in 1989, paved the way for a slew of gothic, darker superhero films in the 1990s. The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, and My Life in the Thrill Kill Kult (who also make a live appearance in one of the film’s major action sequences) all appear on The Crow’s soundtrack, making it arguably the most iconic. Our favorite, though, is NIN’s rendition of Joy Division’s “Dead Souls,” which plays while Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) runs across rooftops in search of the title creature. This scene demonstrates how Draven has changed physically to become the ideal embodiment of revenge.