Stranger Things season 4: Is Hopper actually dead? David Harbour's name 'removed' from cast list
Netflix could be trying to throw fans off the scent
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Stranger Things fans have noticed that the name of a main cast member is not being listed as appearing in the forthcoming season.
With the fourth season currently filming, fans have been hoping for the return of David Harbour‘s Jim Hopper, the police chief of Hawkins, Indiana, who seemingly died in the season three finale.
The scene in question sees him sacrifice himself so that the other characters, including eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), can escape a facility manned by Russian spies.
This led to the theory that Hopper had himself escaped via a portal into the Upside Down, and would spend the majority of the next season stuck there, or that the Russians had kidnapped him.
Lending weight to this theory was the post-credit scene that mentioned a mysterious character, who is referred to “the American” – although some are believing the identity of this individual could mark the return of a season one villain.
A spanner has been truly thrown in the works following the revelation that IMDb is no longer listing Harbour as appearing in season four, though.
A keen-eyed Reddit user highlighted the omission, writing: “If you click on the episode guide on the right of each actor’s name, the drop down menu shows the first few episodes of Stranger Things 4 for all the kids, including the older ‘kids’ Steve (Joe Keery), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Robin (Maya Hawke).”
Winona Ryder is also listed as appearing, which marks Harbour’s omission even more glaring.
It’s worth noting that IMDb is not as reliable as people assume when it comes to listing cast members for films and television shows, but intentionally leaving Harbour’s name out of the promotional materials for what is expected to be the Netflix show’s penultimate season could be a clever way of throwing people off the scent of what could be a huge return.
Find everything you need to know about Stranger Things season four here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments