Stranger Things Creators Address SPOILER’s Fate and That Post-Credits Scene

Full spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 3! Seriously, we’re about to talk about a major plot point that’ll ruin everything if you haven’t seen it.

Towards the end of the season, Jim Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) find themselves well below Starcourt Mall in hopes of shutting down the Russian particle accelerator that’s keeping the rift open between our dimension and the Upside Down. Before long, it appears that Hopper sacrifices himself so the gate can close, ending the season on quite a sad note.

Now that Stranger Things 3 has been released, both Harbour and the Duffer Brothers have commented on whether Hopper is alive in an interview with EW. As expected, Harbour wasn’t able to say much, though he does seem to tease we haven’t seen the end of Chief Hopper.

“What can I tell you? What can’t I tell you? I mean I don’t really know but we will have to see together,” Harbour says. “It’s a pretty serious situation that he gets himself into there at the end and it’s a pretty moving arc in terms of the way this all plays out. So I think we’ll sort of leave it at that and see if there is a life beyond, but I’m not sure yet.”

After the credits rolled, the show had a post-credits scene in which is revealed the Russians were in possession of a Demogorgon. Not just that, but viewers found out they had captured an American and were holding them on a jail cell. As the Duffers say, that open-ended conclusion was completely by design, letting fans speculate before the inevitable Stranger Things 4.

“Assuming there’s a season 4, obviously the question of who that American is in that cell and then also what they’re doing with the Demogorgon, that is a tease,” said co-creator Ross Duffer. “We try to tee up some season 4.”

“You definitely should not assume anything,” Matt Duffer teased. “The line that Russian guard said is purposely intended to spark debate. We need people to ask the very questions that you’re asking.”

What’d you think of the latest season of Stranger Things? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

All three seasons of Stranger Things are now streaming on Netflix.