A 'Star Wars' Connection Might Predict Hopper's Future in 'Stranger Things' [SPOILERS]
This story includes spoilers for 'Stranger Things.'
Netflix’s Stranger Things is set in the 1980s and is known to include references to huge cultural phenomena from that time, such as this season’s nods to Back to the Future and The Never-Ending Story, as well as, unsurprisingly, Star Wars. What might come as a shock is that the latter could give us a clue regarding the fate of one character.
One of the major lingering questions after Stranger Things Season 3 is whether we will see the character Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour) ever again. Our favorite grumpy sheriff selflessly sacrificed himself in order to defeat the Russians and close the gate to the Upside Down. Fans were almost certain of his death (though it’s not shown on screen) until the post-credits scene rolled, in which the Russians speak of “the American” being held in their cells.
Here’s where things get interesting. Men’s Health reports that they discovered a theory from Politico’s Bill Kuchman in which he compares Hopper to Han Solo (played by Harrison Ford) from Star Wars. In doing so, he might have predicted Hopper’s fate.
Gonna tweet it without the hashtags.
— Bill Kuchman (@billkuchman) July 10, 2019
“I’ll see you in hell” is a direct quote from Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back, the film where Han was frozen in carbonite and taken to another world.
Steve’s favorite Star Wars movie? The one with the teddy bears, aka Return of the Jedi. ...
Kuchman explains that both Hopper and Solo use the phrase “See you in hell” before meeting their demise, with the Stranger Things character saying it in the final episode of Season 3, and Solo saying it in The Empire Strikes Back.
On top of that, both characters seemingly die via a machine: Hopper is part of the key’s explosion, and Solo is frozen in Carbonite. Also, at the end of the Stranger Things Season 3 finale, Steve Harrington (played by Joe Keery) makes a reference to Return of the Jedi during his video store interview, the film in which Solo is revived.
Kuchman drives this point home by recalling that Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian save Solo in Return of the Jedi when Jabba the Hutt is feeding prisoners into the Sarlacc Pit. This is similar to how Stranger Things Season 3 ends, with the Russians feeding prisoners to the Demogorgon.
Will Eleven, Mike, and the gang find the Force and save Hop from the Russians? We’ll hopefully find out, if and when a fourth season of Stranger Things happens.
This article also appears on Mental Floss.