‘Stranger Things’ star David Harbor teases what to expect in season 4

• David Harbor appeared at New York Comic Con on Saturday as part of a spotlight panel.
• The actor spoke about what fans can expect from the fourth season of “Stranger Things”.
• Harbor said her character, Hopper, was heading for a “beautiful “arc of redemption and” rebirth “.

David Harbor has said fans can look forward to a “huge arc of redemption” for Jim Hopper when “Stranger Things” returns for season four in 2022.

“There’s a rebirth for him this season and an acceptance of this toxicity that he carries and this trauma, really, where he’s coming from, and he’s struggling with that,” Harbor said of his character during his appearance on the Main Stage at the Javits Center in New York on Saturday as part of a spotlight panel for New York Comic Con.

The actor has opened up about how Hopper has evolved since the hit’s first season

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series, which debuted in 2016. Harbor said fans had “all kinds of complicated feelings about her.”

Hopper was first introduced as a seemingly callous police chief in the first season, and some viewers were quick to view him as a jerk who didn’t care about the kids of Hawkins, Indiana.

“Even in season two when it comes to her relationship with Eleven [played by Millie Bobby Brown], it started to get messed up in terms of the control issues, ”Harbor said.“ And then in season three, a lot of people had mixed reactions to him being a bit of a toxic aspect of masculinity. for him, which is really an 80s rom-com trope that we were playing with. “

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Despite Hopper’s shortcomings, Harbor said he has redeeming qualities that shine through the seasons.

“It’s tough around the edges,” said the “Black Widow” star. “What I like about him is that he will die for your children. He puts himself in danger. He’s unaware of himself and he might not be the nicest guy, but at the end of the day he shows up and does what needs to be done. “

“I think that’s part of the trip with him, is showing all of these different colors,” Harbor added.

In the season three finale of “Stranger Things,” Hopper made the ultimate sacrifice of himself and the other characters believed he was dead – even though there were more than a dozen clues that he did. was alive.

Hopper’s survival was confirmed when the first season four teaser was released that showed the character with a shaved head, doing manual labor in the freezing cold of Russia.

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“In a sense, even this embryonic haircut that I have, there’s a rebirth for him this season and an acceptance of this toxicity that he carries and this trauma, really, where he’s coming from, and he struggle with that, ”Harbor said.

The actor said the upcoming season will explore the details of “what those traumas were, which I always wanted to get into.”

Hopper’s backstory was brought up in season two when Eleven discovered boxes in her attic with tags such as “Papa”, “New York”, “Vietnam” and “Hawkins Lab”.

“We’re going in a lot more layers of it, which I really like,” the actor said.

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“He’s becoming that warrior we always knew he was,” Harbor continued. “It has all of these twists and turns, and there’s also a great redemption arc, which plays out every season, but on a grand scale you start to see that we’re really arching towards the end of this redemption, which is for me. , very beautiful.”

Harbor said fans will also see an “incredible story” regarding Hopper’s attempt to reunite with his family. The actor has promised more developments in the dynamic between Hooper and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) as well as Hopper and Eleven.

“This is the deepest season we’ve had with him and the most self-aware,” Harbor said. “He’s really starting to uncover these truths that we’ve only been hinting at before. So it’s a really deep season and there’s huge action – action at a level we’ve never done before. It’s really exciting and I’m ‘I’m so sorry it took so long. It’s gonna be so good, don’t give up. “