While it might be a while until we’re forced to say goodbye to the beloved cast of Stranger Things, David Harbour let fans in on some intel surrounding the impending fifth and final season of the Netflix series.
“Before the strike, we were sent scripts,” he told Josh Horowitz on his Happy, Sad, Confused podcast. Harbour recently gave an update that he doesn’t think production on the show will resume until the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes end and a deal has been reached with the AMPTP.
Nonetheless, he deemed showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer “terrific, as per usual” in his interview with Horowitz.
“They continue to outdo themselves, these currently on-strike writers called the Duffer brothers,” he continued. “And it’s a hell of an undertaking, too. I mean, the set pieces and the things in the scripts that we saw are bigger than anything we’ve done in the past.”
Harbour, who plays Hawkins chief of police Jim Hopper in the series, remained vague about the starting point of the upcoming season (which has yet to be filmed due to the ongoing strikes), but mentioned it is “after where Season 4 ended.”
“When you watch us on that hill looking at the ash and the smoke, fire, you know, and we’re gonna start somewhere after that, so you gotta imagine that the world is a different place,” he explained. “And, you know, it’s great. It’ll take a while to shoot, which will be tough, since we can’t get started yet.”
He also shared that he is “excited” to return to set and finish Hopper’s story.
“I’m excited to wrap it up in a bold, amazing way,” he said. “I’m excited to, you know, really swing with this character because they’re going to pay off these OG characters — Eleven, Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike — you know, they’re gonna pay them off in big ways because they’ve lived with you for the past eight years.”
Although he noted that he hasn’t read the final script, he teased that he “know[s] what it is.”
“Like I know where we net out,” he clarified. “It’s very, very moving.”
Watch his complete interview above.
The first four seasons of Stranger Things are streaming on Netflix.