Netflix has released the teaser for Stranger Things 4 and there is a tag line in the end saying, “We’re not in Hawkins anymore”.
The new Stranger Things 4 teaser also gives out a clue that Jim Hopper is alive. At the end of Stranger Things Season 3, we saw Hopper disappear as Joyce closed the gate to The Upside Down. After the gate was closed, a huge blast occurred, seemingly vaporizing anyone in the vicinity. The new teaser is offering a few tantalizing clues about the fate of Jim Hopper and all our favorite Hawkins, Indiana residents. Jim Hopper is played by David Harbour.
We got a clue on Jim Hopper is alive after we saw from David Harbour’s Instagram. The actor updated his profile just after the trailer dropped, possibly revealing a huge spoiler that the teaser seems to support. With this there is other important context clue, including mid-credits scene in Stranger Things season 3.
The Theories that Arise
There are theories going on since Stranger Things 3 which was released in July 2019. In the post-credit scene, we saw Russian military laboratory or prison located in Kamchatka, Russia. One guard pauses in front of a door before the second tells him, “No. Not the American”, and points to the next door. There were speculations that Hopper could be the mysterious “American” in a Russian prison and he is alive.
The guard then pulls the Russian prisoner and takes him deep underground into a caged room. One guard opens a steel door inside the room and as it opens, a pale, full-sized Demogorgon emerges. The Demogorgon crawls out, stands up, opens its mouth, and attacks the frightened prisoner.
He could be the American in prison
It is assumed that the American who the Russians are talking about is who died in the Stranger Things season 3’s final episode. In the end scene, Hopper is showed on the wrong side of the Russian’s machine working to open the Upside Down gate. When the machine exploded, we saw a group of people in Hazmat suits who rushed into the room just moments before getting obliterated in the blast. This could mean Hopper is alive and take by the Russians.
Stranger Things is not afraid of showing people dying or bodies being destroyed in particularly gruesome ways, but we didn’t see what happened to Hopper. It could be possible that in season 4, the Russians have accidentally created a machine that is capable of teleportation as well as opening the Upside Down gate. Admittedly, there is no precedent for teleportation in the world of Stranger Things.
The Russians wanted to re-open the gate to the Upside Down because when they had done it before, a Demogorgon made its way through. It wouldn’t take long for the Demogorgon to show off its abilities as a predator that will be a very useful tool for the military.
The Ether Scenario
In the end of Stranger Things, we saw Hopper throw Grigori into the energy machine. Doing that created a fan of electricity which acted as a barrier between him and the pathway to the enclosed laboratory. Hopper was standing just next to the machine before Joyce turned the keys and blew up the machine. This could possibly mean hopper could be alive
Just before the machine exploded, Hopper had suddenly disappeared from the machine’s side. If we see the scene closely, Hopper is no longer standing next to the machine when it’s about to blow up, we can think that Hopper is alive. There was a ladder leading down from the machine’s platform, so Hopper theoretically could have used that to get to the Gate. The screen goes black for 6 seconds after Joyce turned the keys, leaving plenty of room for interpretation about what happened in between the time she closed her eyes and when the machine actually exploded.
It looks like from there made it into the Upside Down before the machine blew up. When the first time machine exploded we saw the melted pile of human flesh and bones left behind. But when Joyce ran to look at the platform where Hopper was standing, there was nothing that could feasibly be Hopper’s remains. So we can say that Hopper is alive.
