Posted in: Netflix, Preview, Stranger Things, TV | Tagged: david harbour, Duffer Bros, hawkins, hopper, netflix, preview, season 4, stranger things

Stranger Things 4: David Harbour on Hopper's "Gandalf" Journey & More

A little more than a week after the Duffer Bros announced during Netflix's Geeked Week that four new faces were joining the cast of Stranger Things 4, viewers are getting some additional insight from one of the best sources for production and season updates, series star David Harbour (Hopper). During an interview with Steve Weintraub from Collider in support of Marvel Studios' Black Widow, the actor offered some thematic thoughts (no spoilers since the Duffer Bros. are always listening) on what viewers can expect in terms of both Hopper's evolution and the fourth season overall.

Here's a look at some of the highlights (and to learn why Harbour considers the upcoming season his favorite, check out the answer here):

Taking the Action Outside of Hawkins Wasn't Just Important- It Was Necessary: "I mean, it's bigger, that's the first thing. In scope, in scale, even in the idea that we're not in Hawkins anymore. We, locale-wise, we're bigger. We're introducing new stuff, but we're also tightening and wrapping up in a certain direction to make it have a clear, clean specific, and definite ending at some point, which I can't really talk about." (Uh-oh, Hawkins…)

Hopper's "Resurrection" Should Be Familiar to "The Lord of the Rings" Fans: "I can talk about Hopper. I guess I say this about a lot of seasons, but it's my favorite season, in the sense that he's at his purest, he's at his most vulnerable, in a sense. He's been, as we've seen, he's in this Russian prison, so we get to reinvent him in a sense. He gets to have a rebirth from what he had become, and we'd always sort of planned this almost resurrection of you have Gandalf dies, Gandalf the Grey re-emerge, and I'm really interested in this resurgence of him. We get to explore a lot of threads in his life that have merely been hinted at that we get to see a lot more of. And there's some real surprises that you know nothing about that will start to come out in this and play big as the series goes on."

Previously, we learned that Jamie Campbell Bower (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Sweeney Todd), Eduardo Franco (Booksmart, The Binge), and Joseph Quinn (Catherine the Great, Howards End) are joining the cast as series regulars. Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones), Sherman Augustus (Into the Badlands, Westworld), Mason Dye (Bosch, The Goldbergs), Nikola Djuricko (Genius, In The Land of Blood and Honey), and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise, V) are joining Stranger Things 4 in recurring roles. In addition, Brett Gelman's Murray Bauman has been promoted to series regular. Then earlier this month, it was announced that Amybeth McNulty (Anne with an E), Myles Truitt (Black Lightning), Regina Ting Chen (Queen of the South), and Grace Van Dien (The Village) had also joined the cast.

The fourth season of Stranger Things finds "a new horror beginning to surface, something long-buried, something that connects everything," here's a look at who's playing who- offering clues to not just where our heroes stand since we last saw them but also to where the action will be taking place this season (including a psychiatric hospital). Bower plays Peter Ballard, a caring man who works as an orderly at the psychiatric hospital. Tired of the brutality he witnesses day after day, Peter feels compelled to take a stand- but will he? Englund's Victor Creel is a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s. As for what's going on with Hopper over in Russia, Wlaschiha's Dmitri is a Russian prison guard who befriends Hopper: smart, cunning, and charming- but can he be trusted? Djuricko's Yuri is a seedy and unpredictable Russian smuggler who loves bad jokes, cold hard cash, and crunchy style peanut butter.

Quinn's Eddie Munson is an audacious 80's metalhead who runs The Hellfire Club, Hawkins High's official D&D club. Hated by those who don't understand him — and beloved by those who do — Eddie will find himself at the terrifying epicenter of this season's mystery. Meanwhile, Franco's Argyle is a fun-loving stoner who proudly delivers delicious pizza pies for Surfer Boy Pizza- and Jonathan's (Charlie Heaton) new best friend. Augustus' Lt. Colonel Sullivan is an intelligent, no-nonsense man who believes he knows how to stop the evil in Hawkins once and for all (uh-oh), while Dye's Jason Carver is living the life of the handsome, rich, sports star who's dating the most popular girl in school. That is until a new evil threatening Hawkins turns everyone's world upside down.

McNulty's Vickie is a cool, fast-talking band nerd who catches the eye of one of our beloved heroes. Truitt's Patrick is a Hawkins basketball star who has friends, talent, and a good life…until shocking events send his life spiraling out of control. Regina Ting Chen's Ms. Kelly is a popular guidance counselor who cares deeply for her students — especially those struggling the most. Van Dien's Chrissy is Hawkins High's lead cheerleader and the most popular girl in school. But beneath the seemingly perfect surface lies a dark secret.

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