\n David Harbour<\/span> Daniele Venturelli\/WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The final season of Stranger Things<\/em><\/a> is still on hold amid the Hollywood strikes \u2014 but David Harbour<\/strong><\/a> knows it will be worth the wait.\u00a0<\/span> \u201cI know what it is,\u201d he said of the show\u2019s ending during the Thursday, August 17, episode of the \u201cHappy Sad Confused<\/a>\u201d podcast. \u201cI know where we net out and it\u2019s very, very moving<\/a>. That is the term I will use.\u201d<\/span> Harbour, who plays Jim Hopper on the Netflix hit, clarified that he hasn\u2019t read the final ending yet, but has a general idea of how the story will resolve. He also suggested that season 5 won\u2019t pick up directly after the fallout of season 4, which saw Max (Sadie Sink<\/strong><\/a>) in a coma and the rest of the gang reeling as the Upside Down<\/a> crept into the town of Hawkins, Indiana.<\/span> \u201cAfter where season 4 ended \u2014 when you watch us on that hill looking at the ash and the smoke fires \u2014 we\u2019re going to start somewhere after that,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo you\u2019ve gotta imagine the world is a different place.\u201d<\/span> Stranger Things<\/em> season 4 premiered on Netflix in two installments in May 2022 and featured the biggest scope in the show\u2019s history. Harbour, however, hinted that the final installment will be even more impressive thanks to the minds of showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer.\u00a0<\/span> \u201cThey\u2019re terrific, as per usual. They continue to outdo themselves, these currently on strike writers called the Duffer brothers. It\u2019s a hell of an undertaking, too. I mean, the set pieces and the things in the scripts that we saw<\/a> are bigger than anything we\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d he gushed.\u00a0<\/span> While season 5 was gearing up to begin filming in May, things have been put on hold amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes. The Duffer brothers were some of the first to speak out in support of the writers strike<\/a>, announcing they would be shutting down production until a fair deal was reached between the Writer\u2019s Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).\u00a0<\/span> \u201cDuffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we\u2019re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike,\u201d the duo wrote via Twitter<\/a> in May shortly after the strike went into effect. \u201cWe hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then \u2014 over and out. #wgastrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/span> The shutdown undoubtedly was a huge hit for Netflix, as Stranger Things<\/em> season 4 marked the streaming service\u2019s most-watched show of 2022 and has continued to be a juggernaut since its 2016 debut.\u00a0<\/span> The final season \u2014 consisting of eight episodes \u2014 was initially planned for a mid-to-late 2024 premiere, but with SAG-AFTRA joining the picket lines<\/a>, fans will likely have to wait much longer before their favorite monster-fighting party comes back to slay Vecna one last time.\u00a0<\/span> Harbour warned the \u201cHappy Sad Confused\u201d podcast listeners that even when production does pick back up, season 5 will take \u201ca while to shoot\u201d \u2014 but he\u2019s ready to return whenever that time comes.\u00a0<\/span> \u201cI\u2019m excited to go back. I\u2019m excited to wrap it up in a bold, amazing way,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m excited to really swing with this character, because you know they\u2019re going to pay off these OG characters<\/a>: Eleven, Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike. They\u2019re going to pay them off in big ways because they\u2019ve lived with you for the past eight years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/David-Harbour-Received-the-Scripts-for-Stranger-Things-Season-5-and-Hes-Emotional-Promo-David-Harbour-Read-Stranger-Things-Season-5-Scripts-and-Hes-Emotional-2.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n David Harbour as Jim Hopper and Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things.<\/span> Courtesy of Netflix \u00a9 2022<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n