‘Stranger Things’ season 4: Hopper is alive! Repeat, Hopper is alive!
Are your minds blown, Stranger Things fans? Because ours definitely are. The Duffer Brothers and Netflix just decided to casually upend everything in our lives by releasing the first footage for Stranger Things season four. What did we learn?
Jim Hopper (David Harbour) is alive. Now, this has been theorized since the end of season three of Stranger Things. In the final moments, we hear two Russian guards discussing an “American” prisoner and fans theorized that it was Hopper, who sacrificed himself at the end of season three.
Here’s what we know about what’s going on.
Refresher
If you’ve been deep into life since Stranger Things season three aired back in July 2019, here’s a quick refresher as to what happened to the beloved police chief in season three.
There was a secret Russian facility below the new Starcourt Mall. In that Russian facility, Russian spies, engineers, and scientists were trying to access the Upside Down in the gate room. Hopper fought a Russian operative in order to close the gate to the Upside Down and save his adopted daughter Jane (Millie Bobby Brown), his true love Joyce (Winona Ryder), and everyone else in Hawkins.
Hopper was seemingly vaporized in an attempt to close the gate. The season ended with Joyce, Jane, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Will (Noah Schnapp) moving away from Hawkins for a fresh start and mourning the loss of Hopper.
Except, he’s not dead.
Hopper’s alive!
The 50-second Stranger Things s4 teaser trailer, which you can see above, shows a group of prisoners working on a railway. It’s a snowy wasteland and clearly some kind of prison camp. Hopper is part of the chain gang getting things going.
Everyone back home thinks he’s dead. Hopefully, the poor guy can get out of there. This is the 80s though and the Cold War is well in full swing. So who even knows.
The title of the trailer is “From Russia with love”, which is also the name of a James Bond film. A nod to that or a wink at Valentine’s Day? You be the judge.
What else do we know?
The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, released a statement. In it, we learned some plot details of the upcoming fourth season.
“We’re excited to officially confirm that production on Stranger Things 4 is now underway — and even more excited to announce the return of Hopper! Although it’s not all good news for our “American”; he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human…and other.
Meanwhile, back in the states, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long-buried, something that connects everything…. Season 4 is shaping up to be the biggest and most frightening season yet, and we cannot wait for everyone to see more. In the meantime — pray for the American.”
“From Russia with love, The Duffer Brothers”
Previously, the duo said that we would be seeing things on a more global scale in season four of Stranger Things. It looks like there will be a split focus following Hopper in Russia and maybe a return to Hawkins? Or, maybe even wherever the Byers family moved to may get involved in season four.
Though the “pray for the American” bit definitely is the most worrying part.
When will Stranger Things season four coming out?
Neither Netflix nor the Duffer Bros unveiled a release date for season four of Stranger Things. Looks like we won’t see the epic 80s-inspired Netflix Original until 2022!
