Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard surprised by early Hopper reveal

The teaser lasted less than a minute, but that was all it took to get the Stranger Things nation pumping their arms in the air. For just last month, Netflix revealed that Sheriff Hopper (David Harbour) would be returning to the show:

Last we saw Hopper, he was caught in an explosion in a Russian laboratory far below the Starcourt Mall in Hawkins, Indiana, assumed dead. So it was a big deal for Netflix to reveal that he was coming back, especially so soon. And we weren’t the only ones to think so.

Speaking with NME, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) revealed he was as surprised as anyone. “I didn’t even know that [the trailer] was coming out until I posted it on Instagram!” he said. “So I was excited. I knew Hopper was alive, I just didn’t know that trailer was coming out. So now I’m just really excited for everybody to see it.”

So why did Netflix let the cat out of the bag so early? “I think that was planned, because there’s only so much time that you have before people start to find out that David Harbour is back on set and start talking about it,” Wolfhard said. “I think Netflix just kind of nipped that in the bud very early.”

Well, you can’t argue with that logic. I can appreciate that Netflix would assume that fans would figure out that Harbour was coming back and get out ahead of things. After all, think back to when HBO was trying to hide the fact that Kit Harington was coming back to Game of Thrones after on Snow was murdered; fans figured that out months ahead of time. You might as well control the narrative.

Now, however, you’ve got to wonder if there are even bigger reveals coming, if the streaming service was willing to reveal Hopper’s this early. Or maybe Netflix just really wanted to show Harbour and Wolfhard hugging at the table read and said, “f**k it! This is worth it.”

“We’re excited to officially confirm that production on Stranger Things 4 is now underway – and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper!” Netflix said in a statement. “Although it’s not all good news for our ‘American’; he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human… and other. Meanwhile, back in the States, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long buried, something that connects everything.”

For the fourth season — which began filming in January — Game of Thrones star Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H’ghar) will join the cast as a Russian soldier. And Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair) has been promoted to a series regular, as she should be.

Now let’s just hope that we’ll be watching Stranger Things 4 by the end of this year!

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