David Harbour says he texted photos of the Russian prison in 'Black Widow' to the 'Stranger Things' creators to avoid overlap with season 4

• David Harbour said that he sent pictures from the "Black Widow" set to the Duffer brothers.
• His characters in both "Stranger Things" and "Black Widow" are being held in Russian prisons.
• Harbour said that he wanted there to be a "big distinction" between the two. 

David Harbour said that he sent "Stranger Things" showrunners "pictures of the 'Black Widow' set" to ensure that there wasn't significant overlap between the two productions.

In an interview for the Los Angeles Times' "The Envelope" podcast, staff writer Mark Olsen asked Harbour if he was "secretly taking pictures" and telling the show's creators, Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, what the Russian prison of "Black Widow" was like.

"I'm sorry, Kevin," Harbour said, referring to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. "I — yeah, I totally was."

Harbour said that he knew "the internet would be ablaze" over the fact that his characters in both "Stranger Things" and "Black Widow," which were released nearly 11 months apart, were both being held in Russian prisons. 

"I was like, we have to at least try to make these things as different as possible," Harbour told the Los Angeles Times.

In "Stranger Things," Harbour plays Jim Hopper, the former police chief of Hawkins, Indiana. At the end of the third season of the show, which focuses on a series of supernatural happenings in the Midwest town, Hopper appeared to sacrifice himself.

However, a mid-credits reveal and later teasers revealed that he was alive and being held in a Russian prison in the show's fourth season, which premiered on May 27.

In "Black Widow" he plays Red Guardian, a past-his-prime former Soviet superhero who's been imprisoned in Russia. Harbour said that the beard that he sports as Red Guardian was originally grown for "Stranger Things," but that he decided to use it for "Black Widow" instead. 

Ultimately, Harbour said he sent "Black Widow" photos to the Duffer brothers because he knew that viewers would "give us all kinds of crap" for visual similarities between the Marvel movie and the Netflix show. 

"I really wanted them to have big distinction," he told the Los Angeles Times. "And the Duffers were totally game to like play around with all those aesthetics."

"Stranger Things" season four, part one is currently streaming on Netflix. "Black Widow" is available to watch on Disney+.