SPOILERS for Stranger Things 4. The latest season of Stranger Things is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix, setting the stage for what will be its fifth and final season. It’s anyone’s guess as to how the story of the hugely popular series will conclude, but Matthew Modine hopes that he’ll have a part to play in Stranger Things 5.
Matthew Modine plays Dr. Martin Brenner, the head scientist of the Hawkins Laboratory who experimented on over a dozen children, including Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). It was believed that Dr. Brenner had perished in the season one finale after running into the Demogorgon, but he was revealed to have survived and returned to help Eleven restore her powers in the most recent season. However, Brenner seemingly died yet again when he was shot by a sniper while attempting to escape with Eleven. The actor recently spoke with Vulture and was asked if he considers Dr. Brenner to be well and truly dead.
No, I wouldn’t. Because I wouldn’t want him to be dead. Three things are curious to me: How did he survive the Demogorgon? How did he survive One? 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?
The Duffer Brothers have said that Dr. Brenner is “definitively” dead this time, but Matthew Modine doesn’t want to believe that his time is up. “I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I love the Duffers,” Modine said. “I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I can’t wait to work with Millie again. I say Millie, because I don’t really have anything to do with the other cast members — except for Paul Reiser.” If Matthew Modine does return for Stranger Things 5, he hopes that Eleven is finally able to forgive him. “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 explained. “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.“
Both volumes of Stranger Things season 4 are streaming on Netflix. Would you like to see Matthew Modine return for Stranger Things 5, or has Dr. Brenner served his purpose?