David Harbour has been a key figure in Netflix's Stranger Things from the very beginning. His character, Jim Hopper, the chief of police in Hawkins, is one of the only adults working alongside our main group of kids in battling the hellish Upside Down and the evil denizens that dwell there.
Harbour will return for the show's fifth and final season later this year. It's all set up to be an epic and highly emotional endgame. With the evil and omnipotent Upside Down entity Vecna still looming, it's all down to Hopper, Joyce, and our team of kids to repel the immensely powerful forces invading Hawkins, Indiana.
If Harbour's original prediction was correct, his character Hopper wouldn't be around for the final season's showdown, or even long before that. In fact, the actor always thought Hopper should have died way back in season 1. In an interview with GQ Magazine, Harbour explained that he was “convinced” Hopper should've committed suicide in season 1, as "it was the only way Hopper could apologize to his daughter.”
Hopper had a subplot in the first season that involved him mourning for her daughter Sara, who had died of cancer before the show began. It was highly emotional, although knowing what we know now, it's hard to imagine the show taking the bold stroke of having Hopper kill himself. Usually, the show doesn't get that heavy.
Of course, Hopper survived season 1 and went on to become one of the show's most important characters. As it happens, Hopper did get a death scene in season 3, but he ultimately returned to action in season 4. “I think they were just committed to the beauty of that moment of his death,” Harbour said of the fans' reaction to the 'death' scene. "It was so moving that I think they almost didn't want him to be alive.”
Harbour has build an esteemed career off the back of Stranger Things. Marvel fans will soon see him return as Alexei in Thunderbolts*, in theaters on May 2. As for Stranger Things, we know that the final season will air sometime later this year, but no specific release date has been set. Watch this space!
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