David Harbour: Hopper’s ‘Stranger Things’ Return Includes ‘Huge’ Backstory Reveal

Netflix has already confirmed David Harbour’s Hopper will be alive when “Stranger Things” returns for a fourth season, but that won’t be the only shock when it comes to the fan favorite character. Hopper was seemingly killed after sacrificing himself in the “Stranger Things 3” finale, but the first “Stranger Things 4” teaser revealed he had somehow survived and was now a prisoner in Russia. Now Harbour says fans will learn something massive about Hopper when the character and the show returns, presumably sometime in late 2021.

A video from Harbour’s March appearance at Liverpool Comic Con recently surfaced online and finds the actor pointing “Stranger Things” fans to the Season 2 episode where Eleven finds boxes in Hopper’s attic labeled “Dad,” “Vietnam,” and “New York.” Harbour said, “So there are these three things that we’ve established in the season that if we don’t pay off, it means that they’re bad writers. And the Duffer brothers are very good writers. So I know specifically that in Season 4 we will give you a big, huge reveal about Hopper’s backstory.”

“I’m so excited about revealing this aspect of the character,” Harbour added. “It’s one of the things that I've known since the first frame of the first shot, and we haven't expressed it yet. And finally we’re gonna express it in a big way. It’s my favorite thing about him that you guys don’t know about him yet, but it has to do with these backstories of New York, Vietnam, and dad. And I’m really excited for you guys to know more about that, and it relates, of course, to things he's doing with Eleven and Joyce and things like that.”

Production on “Stranger Things 4” is currently on hiatus. Harbour’s co-star Joe Keery promised fans last week that the show will return darker than ever in its fourth season, saying, "I think that this year — and I know I say this every single year — but this is definitely going to be a lot scarier than prior years, because last year was pretty dark.”

Harbour’s performance as Hopper has earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Drama. The first three seasons of “Stranger Things” are now streaming on Netflix.

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