Published Aug 4, 2026, 11:13 AM EDT
Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.
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Best known for his role as Hopper in Stranger Things, David Harbour has inked some big-time roles in the last few years. Back in 2021, Harbour made his MCU debut as Red Guardian in Black Widow, the final Marvel film for Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. After a few years away from the role, Harbour returned as Red Guardian last year in*** Thunderbolts****, which earned widespread critical acclaim despite struggling at the box office. Harbour is confirmed to reprise his role later this year in Avengers: Doomsday, which is opening in theaters on December 18. Harbour can also be seen playing Floyd in DTF St. Louis, the HBO series co-starring Jason Bateman that took the world by storm. The show is billed as a miniseries, though, and there is not expected to be a Season 2.
One of Harbour’s most underrated roles in the last few years came all the way back in 2022, when he starred as Santa Claus in Violent Night, the dark comedy/action thriller following a disgruntled Santa Claus who must take down an elite team of mercenaries who break into a family compound on Christmas Eve. A sequel to Violent Night has been in the works for years now, and this afternoon, Universal Pictures finally unleashed the official trailer for Violent Night 2, confirming that the film will be released in theaters on December 4. The original Violent Night is streaming on Netflix for those who want to catch up on the action before the sequel hits theaters. Kristen Bell, Joe Pantoliano, and Daniela Melchior have joined Harbour in the cast of Violent Night 2.
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
It’s not yet been announced if David Harbour will reprise his role as Hopper in a new Stranger Things spin-off. There were rumors that he and Winona Ryder would star as Hopper and Joyce in a Stranger Things sequel series, but these rumors have been debunked, as Harbour confirms that the two are living a peaceful life after leaving Hawkins behind. Harbour is reuniting with his long-time Stranger Things daughter Millie Bobby Brown on a new Netflix spy thriller, where the duo will once again play father and daughter. Few details are known about the project at this time, though.
Check out the new trailer for Violent Night 2 and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the film.
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Josh Miller, Pat Casey