David Harbour teases big payoffs for original Stranger Things stars in final season

David Harbour is teasing that the final season of Stranger Things will feature solid send-offs for at least five of its major characters.

The actor, who stars as Hawkins police chief turned interdimensional monster slayer Jim Hopper, revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that the final season — which has been delayed due to the WGA strike — will feature satisfying conclusions for his character as well as Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Joyce (Winona Ryder), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Mike (Finn Wolfhard).

"It'll take awhile to shoot, which will be tough since we can't get started yet, but it is what it is. I'm excited to go back. I'm excited to wrap it up in a bold, amazing way," Harbour said. "I'm excited to really swing with this character, because you know they're going to pay off these OG characters: Eleven, Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike. They're going to pay them off in big ways because they've lived with you for the past eight years."

Harbour did not divulge any additional information about the fates of the other cast members who have been around since the sci-fi series' first season, which include fellow party members Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Erica (Priah Ferguson) in addition to older teens Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton).

Earlier in the interview, Harbour confirmed that he received the final season's scripts prior to the start of the WGA strike.

"They're terrific, as per usual. They continue to outdo themselves, these currently on strike writers called the Duffer Brothers," he said. "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."

Everett Collection The cast of 'Stranger Things'

Harbour also seemed to suggest that season 5 won't start directly after the catastrophic events of the last season, which saw Max (Sadie Sink) in a coma and the Upside Down leaking into Hawkins.

"After where season 4 ended — when you watch us on that hill looking at the ash and the smoke fires — we're going to start somewhere after that," he said, making a shaking hand gesture. "So you've gotta imagine the world is a different place."

Although he acknowledged that he hasn't read the final ending just yet, Harbour explained that he knows the general gist of it. "I know what it is," he said. "I know where we net out and it's very, very moving. That is the term I will use."

Watch Harbour talk about the upcoming fifth season in the video above.

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