David Harbour Reveals ‘Stranger Things 4’ Will Include A ‘Huge’ Dive Into Hopper’s Backstory

Thanks to a very revealing teaser, it’s no longer a secret that David Harbour‘s Chief Hopper survived the ending of Stranger Things 3, and fans of the show can expect to see the chain-smoking sheriff punching faces in Russia whenever the Netflix series returns. (Production is currently on hiatus like most everything in Hollywood.)

While the details of Stranger Things 4 are being kept tightly under wraps, IndieWire has discovered recently unearthed footage of Harbour from the Liverpool Comic-Con in March where the actor dropped some revealing news about the upcoming season. According to Harbour, the Duffer Brothers seeded some very specific clues in Hopper’s attic where Eleven found boxes labeled “Dad,” “Vietnam,” and “New York.” What those three words mean to Hopper’s backstory will be explored in season four.

“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.”

As for the teaser showing Hopper being held prisoner in Russia, Harbour recently addressed Marvel and Stranger Things fans who came up with an interesting theory that tied Harbour’s sheriff to his upcoming role as Red Guardian in Black Widow.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Harbour sympathized with eagle-eyed fans and genuinely felt bad for how the whole thing looks. “I know, it is a very surprising, annoying coincidence, and I apologize to the entire internet,” he said. “There is no rhyme or reason for it, I promise you.”

(Via IndieWire)