Before Netflix’s groundbreaking sci-fi epic Stranger Things turned him into a household name, David Harbour spent years turning up in bit roles in major blockbusters. He appeared in the tear-jerking Western Brokeback Mountain; Daniel Craig’s second outing as James Bond, Quantum of Solace; and reunited with Jake Gyllenhaal for the gritty crime thriller End of Watch. He even appeared in Tom Cruise’s War of the Worlds, but his scenes were cut from the finished product. Then, 2016 came around, and the Duffer Brothers turned Harbour into a star.
Harbour has retired from his career-defining role as Hopper, but has turned in several leading performances since leaving the Upside Down. After an ill-advised turn as Hellboyin a largely forgotten 2019 remake, Harbour’s roles in Black Widow and Thunderbolts* helped him find his footing again. His MCU run is only getting bigger, as he will appear as Red Guardian in Avengers: Doomsday in December.
In 2022, David Harbour turned in an iconic performance that has landed an upcoming sequel alongside Kristen Bell. The original film, Violent Night, is now charting on HBO Max along with another of Harbour’s leading roles. Harbour plays a dragged out, alcoholic version of Santa that must take on a gang of mercenaries (led by John Leguizamo) after they take a wealthy family hostage. On a budget of roughly $20 million, Violent Night went on to earn $76 million worldwide, and is now part of the alternative-Christmas viewing must-watch list, at an 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film also stars Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Vacation), Cam Gigandet (The Hunting Wives), Alex Hassell (Rivals), and Alexis Louder (The Terminal List).
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Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which MCU Character Is Your Best Friend? Steve Rogers · Tony Stark · Peter Parker · Shuri
Pick where you meet, what they text you at two in the morning, what they hand you on your birthday and what the two of you keep arguing about. Four very different people are waiting on the other side: the one who never leaves, the one who is exhausting and worth it, the one who replies in four seconds flat, and the one who will roast you and then fix your life.
🛡️Steve Rogers(Captain America)
🛠️Tony Stark(Iron Man)
🕸️Peter Parker(Spider-Man)
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🐆Shuri(Black Panther)
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01
Where do the two of you meet? Nobody in this universe makes a friend somewhere normal.
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02
Your phone lights up at two in the morning. What does it say? You find out what kind of friend somebody is by what they send at that hour.
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03
It is your birthday. What do they hand you? The present is never really about the present.
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04
What does a good Saturday with them actually look like? Superheroes have days off, and this is how they spend them.
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05
You have your worst day in years. What do they do about it? This is the part of a friendship nobody puts in the trailer.
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06
Every real friendship has one fight it keeps having. What is yours? The thing you argue about is usually the thing you like most about them.
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07
The alarm goes off and you are both in the field. What is your job? You get one role on the team, and it says a lot about who you want next to you.
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08
Ten years on, what do you want this friendship to be? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who picks up the phone.
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The Line Is Ringing Your Best Friend Is…
Four people, four completely different ideas of what it means to have
somebody in your corner. Here is who picked up, what they would ask of you, and what you would get
back.
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Captain America · Marvel Studios · Since 2011
Steve Rogers
You want the friend who does not leave. Steve is the one who
turns up at the door without being asked, who remembers what you said you were worried
about, and who has never once made you audition for his attention.
His entire character is built on a single sentence, which is that he will not abandon
somebody just because it has become expensive to keep them.
He is far funnier than people give him credit for, and the joke is almost always at his
own expense rather than yours.
The friendship comes with a cost, since being close to Steve means being dragged into
fights that were never yours and being glad about it later.
You would get a friend who tells you the hard thing to your face and then defends you to
everybody else in the room.
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Iron Man · Marvel Studios · Since 2008
Tony Stark
You want the friend who is genuinely exhausting and completely
worth it. Tony will forget your birthday, then build you something at four in the morning
that you did not know you needed, and hand it over as though it were nothing.
He is bad at saying the warm thing out loud, so he says it in hardware instead, which is
why everybody around him ends up with upgraded everything.
Being his friend means putting up with the disappearing, the deflecting and the jokes
that arrive about ninety seconds too early.
What you get in return is somebody who will spend an unreasonable amount of money and
effort on a problem the moment it becomes yours.
He is the loudest person in the room and the one most likely to be quietly panicking
about all of you.
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Spider-Man · Marvel Studios · Since 2016
Peter Parker
You want the friend who replies in four seconds and apologises
for it. Peter is earnest in a way that is almost unfashionable, and he will take on far more
than he can carry rather than admit that he is struggling.
He is the only one on this list who needs looking after as much as he looks after you,
and that balance is exactly what makes it a real friendship.
Nobody in the MCU is better at the small stuff, from remembering the thing you were
nervous about to showing up with food you did not ask for.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrived in July 2026 and put him back where he works best,
which is broke, local and carrying the weight on his own.
You would get a friend who is sincerely, embarrassingly happy for you when something
goes right, with no edge to it at all.
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Black Panther · Marvel Studios · Since 2018
Shuri
You want the friend who insults your shoes, fixes your phone and
then quietly rearranges your entire life for the better. Shuri does not do soft reassurance,
and that is the reason you would believe her when she says you are fine.
She is the smartest person in almost any room she walks into and treats that as a reason
to tease you rather than a reason to lecture you.
The teasing is the affection. When Shuri stops making fun of you, something has gone
seriously wrong and you should probably ask her about it.
Her story is the one on this list that goes somewhere genuinely dark, which is what
turned her from a scene stealer into the emotional centre of the films.
You would get a friend who never pities you, never softens the truth, and never once
lets you take yourself too seriously.
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David Harbour Is Also Taking Over the TV Charts
Harbour is not only taking over the HBO Max movie charts with Violent Night, but his 2026 miniseries DTF St. Louis, co-starring Jason Bateman and Linda Cardellini, is also making waves in the TV category. The seven-episode miniseries follows two friends whose marriages have stalled, prompting them to download an app for discreet affairs. It begins as an exploration of middle age and relationships, but the tragicomedy turns much darker and unfolds into a murder mystery. It boasts an 89% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, and also just won an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series, which is likely to give the show a nice bump in the streaming charts.
Violent Night and DTF St. Louis are both streaming on HBO Max. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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