The wait for the next three episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 in the 2025 TV schedule is nearly over, and fans with a Netflix subscription will have the option of celebrating Christmas with some supernatural scares straight out of the Upside Down. Whether or not you need some last-minute Stranger Things gift ideas, the trailer for Volume 2 is full of treats for anybody hungry for details of what’s to come. Still, seeing the new footage reminded me of my lingering question from Volume 1 about Hopper, which the preview definitely doesn't even come close to answering..
I've managed to remain mostly spoiler-free beyond official releases from Netflix, and this Hopper reveal still makes no sense to me nearly a month after the Season 5 premiere. But first things first!
Stranger Things’ Volume 2 Trailer Is Jam-Packed (But Not Jim-Packed)
Volume 1 left off with Hopper still in the Upside Down, with his plan to blow Vecna (and himself) up having gone sideways with the discovery that Dr. Kay and Co. had been holding Kali rather than Henry captive. The most obvious question about his ending with Eleven reuniting with her sister was about how much of a variable Kali would be to their plans, and the trailer doesn’t give much away about his upcoming storyline. In fact, he only appears in two quick shots, both of which suggest that he still has some big moves to make in the Upside Down. Take a look:
With the size of the cast, it tracks that not every character is going to be front and center in a trailer. Eleven is in a fair amount of it both Upside Down and Rightside Up, and it’s clear enough that she’s going to be able to recruit Kali into joining the fight. Hopper’s usual storylines over the years have paired him up with Joyce, so I’m wondering if we’ll see more of David Harbour with Winona Ryder in the next few episodes.
Eleven seems to be back with Mike and Co. at some point, so I wouldn’t rule out the duo splitting up, although I'm not sure what could happen that would get Hopper to leave her side. He did acknowledge in Volume 1 that there would come a time that she'd have to fight; could he accept that the time has come?
What We Learned About Hopper’s Backstory
Before we get into what didn't make sense, we have to look at what Volume 1 revealed about good old Jim. Hopper dropped some details about his backstory, mostly due to the combination of an open wound and the strain of trying to protect El in the one place he least wanted her to visit. He spoke about his late daughter, Sara, and her bravery even in her final days. Complete with flashbacks to Season 1!
He also shed some light on his time in Vietnam, which was only touched on in earlier seasons. The reveal that he’d served there came in Season 2, and he spoke about his Agent Orange exposure in Season 4. Season 5 confirmed that he'd enlisted rather than been drafted, and he saw a lot of death.
Now, I mention those details here because I think they're probably what viewers were intended to have on our minds during the break between the first and second volumes. The minor reveal that’s been bugging me since Thanksgiving came in a scene that didn’t even feature Hopper himself, but rather showcased what Max was up to in Henry’s mind after she was trapped there.
Max visited one of his memories from the late ‘50s, when Joyce was handing out flyers for a musical that she was directing: Oklahoma, starring James Hopper Jr., Karen Childress, Patty Newby, Alan Munson, Ted Wheeler, and Henry Creel. Yes, Jim Hopper was the top-billed actor in Oklahoma.
What Still Makes No Sense To Me
There are many things that I'm willing to suspend my disbelief about for Stranger Things, but sometimes there are moments (like the possible continuity errors for Will in Volume 1) that seem to indicate either something is wrong for the characters or the Duffer Brothers made a very bizarre Easter egg choice. Jim Hopper the theater kid is not one of those things that I can just overlook.
Not only is Oklahoma a theater production, but it is a very famous musical. Even if we hadn’t already seen the dance moves of Hopper set to Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around with Jim” back in Season 2, there have been no indications that he’s a secret Broadway buff. Just check out a clip of arguably the musical's most famous song (performed by Hugh Jackman), and tell me that there's a reality in which Jim Hopper would sing "Yippy!" on stage:
It’s so bizarre that the closest that I came explaining it after first watching the episode was that perhaps Hopper ended up in Oklahoma as part of an A Walk to Remember type of twist. (If you haven’t seen the 2002 Mandy Moore tear-jerker, Shane West’s character was forced to participate in the school musical or be expelled.) That would perhaps be the strangest thing in the history of the show.
Is There More To Oklahoma?
It also seems like a stretch that the musical was somehow directed by Will’s mom, starred Mike’s mom, Mike’s dad, Eddie’s dad, El’s adoptive dad, and presumably a relative of Bob’s. Are we to believe that by sheer happenstance, Henry’s musical debut in 1959 starred teens whose family members would go on to affect the Upside Down shenanigans?
The flyer got enough focus in the memory that I can’t take it as just an Easter egg, and I’m truly hoping that there’s something amiss with that memory and Henry is somehow altering the truth of that day in 1959. Whether that’s the result of an intentional move on his part or something that was twisted in his memory without his knowledge, I'll take it as long as there's more to Oklahoma!
Luckily, the wait is nearly over before I learn whether or not Hopper was canonically a theater kid. Join me in watching Volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 5 on Christmas Day, starting at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix. The series finale releases less than a week later and just shy of the 2026 TV schedule: New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. ET.
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