David Harbour once thought his fan favorite Stranger Things character Hopper should've died in season 1

Stranger Things star David Harbour initially didn't think his character Hopper should survive season 1 of the hit Netflix show.

The actor recently spoke to GQ, and the publication reports that when there was a chance the sci-fi show would only run for one season, Harbour, after reading the scripts, thought Hopper should die by suicide at the end of the season – as he thought it was the only way his character could apologize to Sara, his daughter, who died of cancer.

In the show, it's a possibility that Hopper's exposure to Agent Orange, a toxic chemical used in the Vietnam War, might have been responsible for Sara's cancer.

Of course, that death didn't happen, and Hopper was later given a fake-out death at the end of season 3. We'll next see him in Stranger Things season 5, which is the final installment of the show.

"I was so happy with his ending, and I don't know, I was satisfied, but I was also very confused and sad, but also very happy," Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike, has previously said of the ending. "I felt like I was in a dream or something. None of it felt real. I don't know, it felt perfect."

Stranger Things season 5 doesn't yet have a release date, but it's expected in 2025 – though, according to its creators the Duffer brothers, that might be optimistic. "A lot of it hasn't been decided, in terms of exactly the release dates and cadence. That's one reason I'm not allowed to talk about it," Matt Duffer has said. "We're getting on a call in about a couple weeks about it. I just know it was very important for us and Netflix that we get it out this year. But even that is quite the push."

While you wait, check out our guide to all the best Netflix shows streaming now to fill out your watchlist.