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Should Stranger Things Season 5 Kill Hopper? David Harbour Responds
David Harbour shares his opinion on whether fan-favorite Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper should survive the upcoming Stranger Things season 5.

Should Stranger Things Season 5 Kill Hopper? David Harbour Responds

David Harbour weighs in on whether Stranger Things season 5 should kill his beloved character, Jim Hopper. First released in 2016, Stranger Things has since become one of Netflix’s most popular shows. Created by the Duffer Brothers, the series tells the story of a group of youngsters in the town of Hawkins, Indiana, who find themselves on the frontlines of a fight with a series of monsters from another dimension. Stranger Things recently concluded its fourth season, breaking viewership records, and is expected to release its fifth and final season in the next few years.

Introduced in season 1, Harbour’s Hopper quickly became a fan favorite. The heavy-drinking cop leads the investigation into Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) disappearance in season 1 and comes to play an even more important role in later seasons as he finds himself facing off against Demodogs and various other monsters. Despite seemingly dying at the end of season 3, Hopper returns in Stranger Things season 4, albeit interred at a Soviet prison camp. Although it briefly looks like the character may die again, Hopper makes it through the season unscathed and eventually ends up back in Hawkins with El (Millie Bobby Brown) in the Stranger Things season 4 finale.

In a new interview with Variety, Harbour reflects on his Hopper’s journey so far and weighs in on whether he thinks the beloved cop should live or die in season 5. Harbour reveals that, while he initially felt like Hopper should die and was happy with the character’s end in season 3, he now hopes his character pulls through. The actor explains that, now, Hopper is “being resurrected as the man he wants to become,” making keeping him alive a nicer prospect. Check out Harbour’s full comment below:

“There were several times I thought he should die. I certainly thought that in the beginning, because he was so destroyed and hell-bent on destruction. Then when it seemed like he went in Season 3, I was happy for him. As he’s being resurrected as the man he wants to become, it would almost be nicer to keep him alive. Let’s see what they choose.”

The Hopper that is introduced at the beginning of the show is much different from the version of Hopper that exists at the end of season 4, with the character having undergone a massive transformation. When audiences first meet Hopper in Stranger Things season 1, he drinks and smokes constantly and is seemingly plagued with self-loathing over the loss of his family. Over the course of the show, however, Hopper comes to embrace El as his new family, and season 4 sees the character finally come to terms with the loss of his daughter.

Hopper’s “death” at the end of season 3 of Stranger Things was particularly emotional and many fans were thrilled to learn that the character was going to return in season 4. With the end of season 4 seemingly setting up a massive confrontation in the fifth and final season, it’s likely that at least a few familiar faces won’t make it through the show alive. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Hopper in Stranger Things season 5, but many fans seem to share Harbour’s sentiment that Hawkins’ favorite police chief deserves to live.