The Duffer Brothers are known to be somewhat ruthless regarding character deaths in Stranger Things. First Barb, then Joyce’s BF Bob Newby, Alexei, Billy Hargrove, Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, Patrick McKinney, Dr. Brenner, and Eddie Munson (💔). It’s a long list — but one actor is not entirely convinced that he’s gone for good.
Dr. Martin Brenner, aka Papa, has played an essential role in the sci-fi series since season one. Although he hasn’t been present for each installment, he’s long been the overarching antagonist, and an integral faction of Eleven’s story and the origin of the Upside Down. In episode eight of Stranger Things 4, he’s shot by the military after they invade the secret lab where he and Dr. Owens were building the Nina Project in.
Dr. Brenner is presumed dead, but Matthew Modine — who portrayed the evil genius — believes that there’s a chance his character could return for redemption in season 5. In an interview with Vulture, he explains why he doesn’t want to say he’s dead.
“Three things are curious to me: How did he survive the Demogorgon? How did he survive One?,” he said. “And when Eleven tries to use her power against Dr. Brenner after blowing three guards in the air, he unflinchingly thwarts her and says, ‘You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?’ She couldn’t get it to work on him. Is there something more to Brenner than meets the eye?”
When the interviewer wondered whether or not Brenner has supernatural powers, much like Eleven and the other children in the Hawkins Lab, Modine responded, “Yeah. I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I love the Duffers.”
His sentiments align with an earlier interview with Men’s Health. When asked to confirm whether or not his character is dead, he said, “I wish I had an answer for that. The Duffer Brothers were asked that question and said, ‘Brenner is no longer with us.’ Does that mean he’s dead? I don’t know.”
“The fascinating thing about Brenner is not just that he survived the Demogorgon, but he also survived 001’s attack,” he added. “He and Eleven were the only ones who were alive after that attack. It wasn’t just surviving one monster; he survived a second.”
If Brenner were to return to Hawkins, Modine thinks that he’d have to face the cruelties he forced on Eleven and the other children at the lab for years. He’d have to truly own up to his wicked ways and ask El, and the only other known-living child, Kali, for forgiveness.
“…The horror of what Brenner did is accepting and understanding his culpability in the death of all those children because of what One did,” Modine told Vulture. “So if Eleven and Kali, or just Eleven, forgave him and sent him off, he would spend the remaining days of his life knowing he had been forgiven but having to accept responsibility for what he did.”
It remains to be seen what Brenner’s fate is, so we’ll just have to wait with anticipation until season 5 of Stranger Things drops on Netflix. But, ahem, Duffer Brothers, if you’re reading this — while we’re floating the idea of characters returning from the dead… what about Eddie Munson?
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