Stranger Things is back with new episodes, but David Harbour’s performance as Hopper is missed, though the sci-fi franchise did manage to find the perfect replacement for the actor. Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s best TV shows of all time. Only a few of the streaming service’s shows will have the lasting power of the sci-fi series, and that is impressive.
In season 1, Netflix perfectly mixed experienced actors with fresh faces, banking key storylines on young stars that grew with the show. It was due to solid dramatic performances from Harbour as Hopper and Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers that the edge was taken off the young stars, allowing them to flourish through trial and error while the veterans brought their A-game to even it out.
There is no denying that Hopper is one of Stranger Things‘ most important and popular characters. He was always involved with the kids’ plans to defeat Upside Down monsters, and through his relationship with Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven, becoming her adoptive father, a softer side of Hopper was revealed. One simply can’t imagine Stranger Things without Harbour, but that is exactly what is happening.
Hawkins, Indiana · 1986 Which Stranger Things Character Are You? “Friends don’t lie.”
🧠 Eleven The Protector
📡 Mike The Leader
🤓 Dustin The Brain
🏂 Max The Fighter
🪧 Steve The Babysitter
01
It’s Friday night in Hawkins. What are you doing?
02
The lights start flickering and something growls in the dark. What’s your first instinct?
03
Your best friend is missing and nobody believes you. What do you do?
04
How would people at Hawkins High describe you?
05
Someone at school is being bullied right in front of you. What do you do?
06
You discover something impossible — a secret that could change everything. Who do you tell?
07
When things feel overwhelming and the world seems dark, how do you cope?
08
When the Upside Down is finally closed and Hawkins is safe, what matters most to you?
Hawkins Lab Report Complete Your Stranger Things Alter Ego
🧠
Eleven
“I can save them. I’m the only one who can.” You’re quiet but powerful — and people underestimate you at their own risk. You didn’t have the easiest start in life, but that’s made you fiercely protective of the people you love. You don’t always have the words, but your actions speak volumes. When everyone else is running away from danger, you’re walking straight toward it. You carry more than anyone should, and you rarely ask for help — but you’re learning that vulnerability isn’t weakness.
Powerful Protective Resilient Empathetic
📡
Mike Wheeler
“We never would have upset you if we knew you had superpowers.” You’re the natural leader of your group — not because you’re the loudest or the strongest, but because you genuinely care. You’re passionate, sometimes to a fault, and when you believe in something (or someone), you go all in. You hold your friends to high standards because you hold yourself to the same. People might see you as intense, but that intensity is born from love. You’d go to the Upside Down and back for the people in your life.
Passionate Loyal Determined Emotional
🤓
Dustin Henderson
“I am on a curiosity voyage, and I need my paddles to travel.” You’re the glue that holds everything together, even if nobody realizes it. Your brain never stops working — you see connections other people miss, and you’re not afraid to geek out about it. Sure, people might laugh at your enthusiasm, but you don’t care because you know who you are. You bring heart and humor to every situation, and when things get dark, you’re the one who reminds everyone that there’s still something worth fighting for.
Brilliant Optimistic Authentic Heart
🏂
Max Mayfield
“I’m not afraid of you.” You’re tough — not because you want to be, but because life made you that way. You’ve built walls higher than Castle Byers, and you don’t let just anyone past them. But beneath that armor is someone who feels everything deeply and fights harder than anyone for the people she loves. You cope through independence and sometimes push people away when you need them most. But when you finally let someone in? That bond is unbreakable.
Fierce Independent Brave Complex
🪧
Steve Harrington
“How many times do I have to save you people?” You’re the unlikely hero — the person nobody expected to step up, least of all yourself. You started out focused on your hair and your reputation, but when it mattered, you discovered something more important: protecting the people who need you. You’re brave, selfless, and way more capable than you give yourself credit for. You might downplay your role with a joke, but everyone knows: when the Demogorgon shows up, you’re the one grabbing the nail bat.
Selfless Brave Loyal Underestimated
After the end of Stranger Things in 2025, Netflix has already moved forward with the show’s first spinoff series. The animated Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 was released on April 23, with season 2 green-lit and officially confirmed to arrive in late 2026. Most of Stranger Things‘ key characters returned, but with crucial changes, like recasting the role of Jim Hopper.
David Harbour Does Not Return As Stranger Things’ Hopper In New Netflix Series
Harbour played Hopper across all five seasons of Netflix’s Stranger Things. In the animated spinoff series, none of the actors who played the characters in live-action returned to voice them, marking a clear divide between the original Netflix sci-fi show and its first spinoff. As Harbour moves on to other franchises, like playing Red Guardian in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, actor Brett Gipson has taken over the role, voicing Hopper in Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 season 1 and the sci-fi series’ foreseeable future. There are some interesting connections between the two stars.
For instance, both have a Marvel background. Harbour joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2021’s Black Widow as Red Guardian, returning in 2025’s Thunderbolts*, and set to appear in December’s Avengers: Doomsday. While Stranger Things‘ original Hopper actor currently plays a Marvel hero, the Netflix sci-fi franchise’s new Hopper star will soon debut as a Marvel villain, though in another medium. Gipson plays the X-Men villain Sabretooth in Marvel’s Wolverine, Insomniac’s upcoming 2026 video game. Like Harbour, Gipson’s take on Hopper is commanding, bringing a sense of grit and authority to the Stranger Things world. Gipson does sound more energetic, though.
Why Recasting Hopper Is Perfect For Netflix’s Stranger Things: Tales From ’85
Mike and Hopper in Stranger Things Tales From ’85
The younger stars of Netflix’s Stranger Things being recast for the franchise’s first spinoff fit due to them aging out of the versions of the characters represented by the show. After all, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 takes place between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series. However, keeping Harbour as Hopper, but changing everyone around him, would have felt odd. Sure, I would have loved to have gotten more of the actor as this iconic character, and Harbour would have fit, given that Hopper’s age is no problem like that of Eleven and her friends.
However, getting to hear Harbour as Hopper and not see him interact with Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven would have been quite the change, so it is for the best that the sci-fi franchise opted for a full recast of the characters. In the end, it was better to start this fresh chapter in the Stranger Things franchise, which has a completely different, lighter tone and is animated, not live-action, with a whole new cast, even if that means losing Harbour as Jim Hopper.
Release Date
April 23, 2026
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Eric Robles
Directors
Phil Allora, JJ Conway, Ben Choi
Writers
ChatGPT, Dan Milano, Ray Utarnachitt, Jennifer Muro, Chad Quandt, Chris Wyatt, Kevin Burke, Jen Bardekoff, Joshua Pruett
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