David Harbour Was Happy with Hopper’s Death in ‘Stranger Things’ Season 3

Season 3 of Netflix’s Stranger Things hurt for a number of reasons, and one was thinking that Hopper was dead, however briefly it may have been. At the end of the season, Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour) seems to sacrifice himself to stop the Russians, and his friends and family think that he’s gone and begin to move on in their lives as they think Hopper would have wanted. Eleven reads the speech that Hopper had written with Joyce to give to her about Mike, and we have an emotional conclusion to Hopper’s arc. In a new interview with Variety, Harbour revealed that he would have been okay with that ending for the character, if it had stuck.

Talking with them about his work in the play Mad House, which he is currently performing in on the West End, Harbour also broke down some of his thoughts on Stranger Things and what has happened to Hopper, from season 1 on to the very skinny man we see in season 4 just trying to make it back home to his daughter.

“There were several times I thought he should die,” Harbour revealed. “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.”

I hope that season 5 gives him time to explore not only his relationship with Joyce Byers but also his new place back in Hawkins after being presumed dead.

The dad bod will return

Now, Jim Hopper being alive and in Russia was one level of joy that I will never forget. But it came with a price: the downfall of our favorite “dad bod.” Jim Hopper in season 3 is easily one of the hottest things I have seen on television, and yes, it is in part due to his dad bod, but it’s also just the energy that Hopper has. And it’s gone in Stranger Things 4, but Harbour is aware that we miss it.

“I’m sorry for all the fans who lost the dad bod, but I will tell you this: David Harbour will have dad bods in the future, I have no doubt,” he said and honestly? Good. In fact, in the interview, he even revealed that the minute they were done filming Stranger Things, he went right back to eating pasta as quick as he could. “As soon as we finished my last shirtless scene, I sent my assistant to this great pasta place for lasagna,” Harbour recalls. “It only came in trays, so I gave her a little section and then I just took the whole tray and dove in like a maniac.”  

The interview is overall a great look into Harbor and a fascinating read. I’m just also very glad that he’s talking about the return of his dad bod.

(featured image: Netflix)