This was originally part of an ask I answered but I am anal and hate how the mobile site formats ask posts.
I’ll start with the Most Obvious and work my way backward. I also will likely not include everything I could to keep this post from becoming a novel.
I know that Eddie isn’t really sick but that is not the point of having Adrain needing one. An inhaler is something that is always associated with Eddie in all IT media. And while we don’t see it in the movie as heavily as the book, Eddie relies on his inhaler a lot and uses it after being attacked by both supernatural things and just trash humans alike, just like how we see Adrain needing to reach for it while being attacked.
- The general build/height
This is something that actually alludes to both Richie and Eddie. The basic height and build of both sets of boys are purposely meant to reflect each other
Once more, in the book Eddie being a competitive asshole is more clear, but we do see this a little in the movie with the loogie scene and arm wrestling, just like we see Adrian seriously wanting to win the game, even if his only competition is literal children
- Kind/thinking of others always
I think kindness is actually sometimes a really hard trait to show when a character doesn’t have a lot of screentime, even more when the character is someone who isn’t a doormat or pushover, but they showed Adrian’s kindness really well with giving the beaver to Vicky. Likewise, Eddie in all IT media is a very kind character who is willing to put his own needs and wants aside for those around him who deserve it and sometimes for those who don’t
- Sassy with a side of Fuck You
Do I need to explain this one? Both need to Chill by like 50%
- Mocking hair of an attacker
Even more, the fact that neither gives a fuck about keeping his mouth shut, even while being violently attacked and harassed. We do see this directly with Eddie mocking Bower’s hair and Adrain mocking his attacker’s hair, both of them after their attacker made them bleed.
This is also another thing that is more clear in the book. We are greeted with Eddie as a child when he taunts Bowers and gets punched in the face to protect Bill.
- Getting hurt by a known homophobe but that not being what kills him
Both Eddie and Adrain survive when attacked from a place of hate. They are wounded but survive. Because in Derry, it isn’t the thing itself that kills you, it’s the fear of the thing that will do you in
-Someone who loves him watching him die because of Pennywise
The movie had it pretty clear that Richie was in love with Eddie, and both Eddie and Adrian were killed by Pennywise with their gay loved ones watching.
- Not caring about leaving Derry
This one is very subtle, and those who didn’t read the book may have missed it completely, but they did show that Eddie knew how and when his mother died when he was in the pharmacy, so that implies that they stuck to book canon with him and had him stay in Derry to take care of his mother. Adrian also was shown to not care if they left or stayed in Derry in the short time we got to know him
- Adrain also showed up and called Richie handsome in the Paul Bunyan scene
reddieiscanonx did an amazing and quick job connecting that whole scene to Eddie