Avengers: Doomsday star David Harbour, who plays Red Guardian in the MCU, is in trouble as he faces controversy following accusations from his Stranger Things co-star Millie Bobby Brown. Harbour's busy schedule in 2025 and 2026 includes Stranger Things Season 5 and Avengers: Doomsday. One of the key relationships explored in Stranger Things is the father-daughter dynamic between Harbour's Jim Hopper and Brown's Eleven, and this bond is expected to take center stage in the show's final season alongside
As anticipation builds for Stranger Things' return to the small screen, controversy unexpectedly arose between Harbour and Brown in the days leading up to Stranger Things' November 26 release on Netflix.
As first reported by the Daily Mail, Stranger Things lead star Millie Bobby Brown filed a complaint against her co-star, David Harbour, ahead of the filming of Season 5. The report stated that the 21-year-old actress filed "pages and pages" of accusations (nothing sexual in nature) against her 50-year-old co-star that led to a months-long investigation:
The Daily Mail also claimed that Brown had a representative with her while filming for Season 5 commenced. While the outcome of the investigation was unknown, the MCU star reportedly faced an internal inquiry. Netflix declined to comment to the outlet.
Although the accusations came after Harbour's ex-wife, Lily Allen, released her latest album, "West End Girl," (which may have implied that he may have cheated on her), a source told Daily Mail that Allen "steadfastly supported her husband throughout the ‘brutal’ ordeal."
Harbour and Brown have been with Stranger Things ever since Season 1 in 2016. Speaking as a guest on That Scene with Dan Patrick podcast in July 2021, Harbour previously said he feels "protective" of his special relationship with Brown, noting that he always felt "this kind of deep fatherly affection for her:"
"I have a real protective feeling for her. I have a real, like, worry. I worry about her and the fame and all that she has to struggle with. And I've just always felt this kind of deep fatherly affection for her."
As for Brown, she, via an interview with Variety in August 2018, described co-stars David Harbour and Winona Ryder as her "parents" while also mentioning that Harbour was protective of her romantic life:
"Winona Ryder and David Harbor are like my parents. On set, they’re like, ‘Stop running, what are you eating, why are you eating that?’ David is like, ‘Another boy?’ And in the show, if they rekindle, that means Will and Eleven will be step-siblings. I would love that because Noah [Schnapp] is my boy best friend."
Stranger Things Season 5 is set for a historic release. The first four installments will be released on November 26, 2025. The next three episodes will premiere on Christmas Day 2025, and the much-talked-about finale will bow on the streamer and in theaters on New Year's Eve (December 31, 2025).
After Stranger Things concludes, Harbour is expected to be busy with press and marketing efforts for another major release in 2026: Avengers: Doomsday. The actor is part of the star-studded cast of the MCU crossover, which already has big names like Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Chris Hemsworth, and Robert Downey Jr.
Will Red Guardian's Fate in Avengers 5 Be Affected by David Harbour's Controversy?
At this stage, it's difficult to speculate whether David Harbour's latest controversy will affect the Red Guardian's fate in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars.
Given that the investigation's results have yet to be made public (or if they will ever be released), it's possible that Marvel Studios was not informed of the controversy surrounding Harbour, considering that Stranger Things entered production first in January 2024, while Doomsday began in April 2025.
That said, it's reasonable to assume that Red Guardian's fate in Avengers: Doomsday is not entirely reliant on the actor's recently surfaced controversy because filming already wrapped in September 2025. If Red Guardian ends up dying in Avengers: Doomsday, it's safe to say that the actor's controversy will not affect his on-screen fate, since it could've been done for creative purposes.
