Ok in season 1 when eleven killed the demagorgon she turned to dust or flakes, and the same thing happened to hopper. What I’m getting is when she turned to dust she went to the upside down same thing with hopper, so I’m thinking hopper isn’t dead he is just in the upside down.
I’m saying this because eleven killed the demagorgon with a great force and this soviet weapon used to open the gate also had a great force and it is also linked to the upside down. But there is no way for hopper to get out. But the mind flayer could possibly open another gate and corrupt hopper. And so I’m thinking that hopper is going to be the next host.