Our favorite cop on TV is returning with a bang in the next season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. Hopper, played by the fantastic David Harbour, is going to do a Gandalf in Season 4 when he will return a changed man after a tryst with the Russians.
Harbour knows how to keep his fans on edge. After lying to them for over a year, that their coconutty cop — soft in, hard out and completely wild — dies in Season 3, he now reveals that not only is Hopper back, but his return comes with a massive back story.
Interacting with the audience at the Liverpool Comic-Con in February this year, one of the last public gatherings before the onset of the COVID pandemic, Harbour promised a “big, huge reveal about Hopper’s backstory.”
Less than a month after the event, the show’s production shut down in March due to the ongoing pandemic.
The video resurfaced online as fans of what has been called the Best Netflix Show were trying to unearth very titbit of info on the latest season.
What’s the new reveal?
Harbour was referring to the three boxes found in his office back in season 2, named, ‘Vietnam’, ‘Dad’, and ‘New York’.
Recalling the scene when the boxes are unearthed by Eleven in Hopper’s office, Harbour joked what good were the show’s writers if they did not build upon that strong plot point.
“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,” he said.
Now for the mandatory contemplation (read obsession). So we already know a bit about big ol’ Hopper’s softer side after he emerged as a father figure of sorts to Eleven in the second season.
The ‘Dad’ box could have something to do with him being a dad or maybe something about his own dad.
So it is the other two boxes that we’re most interested in. ‘New York’ because we want to know why the big guy came to settle in the strange town of Hawkins.
And ‘Vietnam’ because after his not-so-apolitical speech at the SAG awards ceremony, we want to know what the writers have to say through his character about one of modern America’s biggest political movements.
Best kept secret
We have unearthed a new side to Harbour’s complex character, which he has portrayed with such grit and grace, in every return to the Stranger Things world. And it seems Harbour was aware of Hopper’s secrets from the beginning.
Speaking about this new aspect of Hopper’s character, Harbour revealed, “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.”
Watch Trailer Here:
He goes on to add that his relationship with Joyce (Winona Ryder) is also a part of this back story.
“…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.”
Long wait ahead
In a TV Line report from early this year, we came to know that season 4 could be nine episodes instead of eight, as reported earlier.
And, alone that one of those nine episodes would focus on the backstory of one of the show’s main characters. Since we’ve already looked into Eleven’s past, that only leaves Hopper as the character having the most secrets now.
However, considering Netflix is yet to confirm both the above rumors and with the show’s production delayed indefinitely, the mystery is going to stay with us for long.
When is Season 4 out?
Stranger Things season 4 was originally planned for early 2021, which now seems unlikely, given the times.
The show was less than a month in production when the pandemic hit. And we don’t know how the delay will affect the release date.
Meanwhile, all we have are 3 brilliant seasons of this beacon of a story filled with stories of courage, hope and friendship even in the darkest of times. We couldn’t ask for more, but then, the heart wants what it wants – to see them again, even if one last time!
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