What Hopper Might Be Doing In Stranger Things Season 3, According To David Harbour

Hopper in Hawkins Lab during Season 2

Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of Stranger Things.

It's been two weeks since Stranger Things finally released its second season, and the fans are still reeling from its wild sophomore run. Stranger Things 2 expanded the Duffer Brothers' world in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, bringing new colors to the characters Netflix subscribers fell in love with last summer. In particular, the show really focused on David Harbour's Hopper this season, and saw as his relationship with Eleven grew into a familial bond that may finally help him properly grieve his late daughter. But Harbour still thinks there is more to learn about his character, and has a few opinions on where Hopper should go in the third season. He recently said,

The other thing I want is Jim to get back into some punching mode for Season 3. He didn't punch anyone in Season 2! I would definitely like him to be running around Hawkins, punching people. The Duffers and I have talked about that for future seasons. We've also seen a lot of things, when Eleven goes down to his cellar and sees the boxes, we see a box that says Dad, a box that says New York, a box that says Vietnam. These are little Easter Eggs for Jim, further layers of the onion that can be peeled back. More will be revealed on that front.

It looks like David Harbour wants a nice combination of ass kicking and heart for Hopper in Season 3, which is exactly what the character is most known for. Now we just have to see how much of Sara he unpacks (literally) in the year in between seasons two and three.

David Harbour's comments to Variety are also funny because it references how often Hopper was punching folks back in Season 1. As Hawkins' Chief of Police attempted to unravel the mystery around Hawkins Lab, he had to bust a skull or few along the way. Hopper punched out a ton of guards and other officers in his attempts to find out the truth about Will's disappearance-- a plot point which was picked apart in the show's recent Honest Trailer video.

But Hopper had far less punches to throw this year, as the action in Stranger Things 2 largely took place without any physical altercations. Other characters like Nancy suffered from a lack of action sequences as well. While she was shown being a badass and great marksman in Season 1, she never got to fire that rifle Hopper gave her in the penultimate episode of Season 2. Instead, Season 2 was largely focused on the interpersonal relationships at play, giving Will most of the experience with actual supernatural elements.

Stranger Things is currently streaming its first two seasons in their entirety on Netflix. Check out our fall premiere list to plan your next binge watch.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.