Stranger Things star David Harbour reveals that the return of his character, Hooper, is comparable to Gandalf’s resurrection.
Hopper’s fate isn’t actually a spoiler on Stranger Things season 4. The first teaser from Netflix hinted that he is not dead, despite the cliffhanger from the third season.
Harbour said that Hopper’s return is much like Gandalf becoming Gandalf the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This suggested that Hopper will be a completely different man after his “death.”
The actor also said that his character’s fate was under discussion since the first season with the show’s creators.
“We were always interested in that idea of the Gandalf resurrection – Gandalf the Grey who fights the Balrog and then becomes Gandalf the White,” Harbour said in an interview with Total Film. “It’s the idea of the resurrection of the character and mythologically, Hopper, in a sense, had to change.”
Production restart all set
Harbour and the rest of the cast and crew will reportedly be back to work on Sept. 28. According to Deadline, Netflix won’t comment on the resumption of production, but there have been movements on the set in Georgia.
Filming for Stranger Things season 4 had to stop last March amid the escalating pandemic. Work on the set kicked off with a cast table read but soon after that, everyone had to go home.
The Duffer brothers and the writers, however, kept busy during the lockdown to finish the scripts. By June, they announced that they’ve completed the scripts for all of this installment’s eight episodes.
Stranger Things 4: the complete season. #ST4 pic.twitter.com/DAjQFnPVGq
— stranger writers (@strangerwriters) June 18, 2020
The Duffer brothers said that the fourth season is “shaping up to be the biggest and most frightening season yet.” They cannot wait for the fans to see what’s in store.
Not the end yet
The twin brothers also declared that Stranger Things season 4 is not the final season. Netflix has not yet renewed the show for season 5, but the creators said the pandemic gave them time to figure out the end game.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Ross Duffer said that they now have a better idea of “how long we need to tell that story.” A lot will still be revealed, especially with Hopper’s new complex storyline.
It comes as reports suggested Stranger Things season 4 will be the last as the child stars are growing up and physically changing into adults in real life. Given the breaks in between filming, the main cast could look and sound different, which could affect the show’s continuity.
Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)