When you’re one of the most iconic metal bands on the planet, your music doesn’t just live on stage—it storms through the pop culture landscape, blaring from zombie-killing road trips, apocalyptic wrestling arenas, and even weird dystopian office jobs. From the Upside Down to Beavis’ brain, Metallica’s music has scored some unforgettable moments in TV and film history.
Let’s dive into 5 epic times Metallica roared into movies and TV, proving once again—they’re not just part of the soundtrack, they ARE the moment.
1. 🎸 “Master of Puppets” – Stranger Things (2016–)
Scene-stealer: Season 4, Episode 9 – The Piggyback
Track used: “Master of Puppets” (1986)
Metallica’s thrashterpiece found fresh blood (literally) in the most metal TV moment of the decade. Eddie Munson’s rooftop shred in the Upside Down? Iconic. His heroic solo on a Warlock guitar wasn’t just for show—it was a demon-slaying riff-fest that blew minds across generations.
🔊 “Master of Puppets” rocketed up the charts 36 years after release, making a new legion of fans headbang their way through 2022.
💬 Q Prime’s Hannah Davis and OTTTO’s Tye Trujillo (Robert Trujillo’s son, who helped re-record the solo) shared how this Stranger Things collab reignited Metallica’s cultural fire like a flaming Molotov cocktail of nostalgia and pure riffage.
🧠 Fun fact: The scene was so epic Metallica themselves duetted with Eddie Munson’s solo on TikTok. 🤘
2. 🧟♂️ “For Whom the Bell Tolls” – Zombieland (2009)
Scene-stealer: Opening credits
Track used: “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (1984)
From the first tolling riffs, you knew this wasn’t going to be a typical zombie flick. Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland opens with slow-mo chaos, flaming undead, and the sheer doom of Metallica’s chilling war anthem echoing through a disintegrating America.
🎬 The film follows a rule-obsessed survivor, a Twinkie-hunting redneck, and two cunning sisters as they road trip through carnage and comedy. And Metallica’s bone-shaking track? It perfectly sets the tone: stylish, chaotic, and heavy as hell.
🧟♀️ Metal and horror? Still a match made in the apocalypse.
3. 🤓 “I Disappear” – Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1993–present)
Scene-stealer: Literally everything
Track used: Various Metallica tracks + cultural commentary
Beavis and Butt-Head didn’t just like Metallica—they practically worshipped them. Whether it was wearing Metallica shirts 24/7 or air-guitaring to Kirk Hammett solos while drooling over MTV, the band became a core part of these animated dirtbags’ DNA.
👕 You couldn’t watch an episode in the ’90s without seeing Metallica get name-dropped, ridiculed (lovingly), or air-guitared into oblivion.
🎸 Metallica’s music was part of the very fabric of Beavis and Butt-Head’s world. No wonder they were used as a punchline and a praise line in equal measure.
⚡ Bonus points for introducing a generation of cartoon-loving teens to the joys of moshing.
4. 🧠 “Enter Sandman” – Severance (2022)
Scene-stealer: Episode 4’s closing moments
Track used: “Enter Sandman” (1991)
Severance is about splitting work-life balance with a scalpel—literally. But as the mystery deepens and identities crack, what better soundtrack for an identity crisis than Metallica’s darkest lullaby?
🎧 “Enter Sandman” creeps into the ending of one key episode, blurring reality and madness with every power chord. It’s the perfect companion to a show about hidden selves and buried fears.
🛏️ The song’s haunting lyrics about sleep and monsters fit Severance like a black leather glove: “Sleep with one eye open…”
5. 💥 “The Memory Remains” – WrestleMania 36 (2020)
Scene-stealer: Edge vs Randy Orton – Last Man Standing Match
Track used: “The Memory Remains” (1997) + other Metallica classics in WWE
WWE and Metallica go together like body slams and beer. WrestleMania 36 might’ve been a strange one (no live crowd thanks to the pandemic), but the energy stayed electric—especially when Metallica tracks scored the action.
🎵 “The Memory Remains” was used to promote Edge’s triumphant return to the ring after 9 years, with his grudge match against Randy Orton hyped like a Shakespearean blood feud—with distortion pedals.
🎥 WWE has used multiple Metallica songs to soundtrack promos and rivalries: “Sad But True”, “Now That We’re Dead”, and “Frantic” have all made appearances.
💪 Because when a steel chair meets skull, you need Hetfield screaming in the background.
🤘 Final Thoughts: Metallica Rules the Multiverse
Metallica aren’t just metal giants—they’re storytellers, mood-setters, and the undisputed kings of cinematic heaviness. Whether they’re pushing you to fight zombies, face your inner demons, or jump off the top rope, their riffs give every scene the goosebumps factor.
So next time you hear those first notes of “Master of Puppets” in a movie trailer or some slow-mo bloodshed scored by “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” just remember:
🎥 Metallica doesn’t just play music… they invade pop culture one thunderous riff at a time.
Want more like this?
➡️ Follow @theriffreportuk for riffs, wreckage, and weird facts about your favourite bands!
🎸 Iechyd da, metalheads!
