Matthew Modine has shared a fun theory about his ‘Stranger Things‘ character, Dr. Martin Brenner, and it has fans thinking twice about “Papa.”
Even though the series never says Brenner has special abilities, the actor believes there is a good chance his character had powers of his own. And his idea adds a whole new layer to one of the show’s most mysterious characters.
Matthew Modine Thinks Dr. Brenner From ‘Stranger Things’ Had Hidden Powers
Matthew Modine recently brought back his long-running theory after an Instagram user asked how Dr. Brenner managed to survive the Demogorgon attack in Season 1. Instead of giving a simple answer, Modine shared the backstory he created for the character.
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He wrote, “I imagine #drbrenner had to possess some skills or powers himself. How else could he have started or led this program? He would have needed to convince someone that it was possible to train young people to develop their hidden potentials. So I imagined and suggest that #papa was let’s say 000.”
In Modine’s mind, those secret powers explain how Brenner survived not only the Demogorgon attack but also the bloody massacre at Hawkins Lab caused by Subject 001. Basically, he believes Brenner was even earlier than Vecna in the experiment timeline and could have been the mysterious “Subject 000.”
Modine has been talking about this idea for years. During a 2022 interview with Men’s Health, he explained why the theory made sense to him. Brenner somehow walked away from two deadly situations. Then there is the scene where Eleven tries to use her powers against him, but Brenner calmly says, “You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?“. Modine felt like there were little clues that Brenner was hiding something big.
The Duffer Brothers Let Actors Fill In The Blanks
One cool thing about ‘Stranger Things‘ is that the Duffer Brothers did not hand every actor a detailed backstory. Instead, they gave the cast room to build their own versions of the characters. That freedom is exactly why Modine came up with the idea that Brenner had supernatural abilities.
In case you missed it: ‘Stranger Things’ Star Explains Why Vecna’s Death Was More Tragic Than Fans Realized
The creators never planned to reveal Brenner as Subject 000, but they appreciated how deeply Modine understood the role. Matt Duffer even told Deadline, “Matthew was always very defensive of Brenner. If he saw fans criticizing him or him being called the villain, he would bristle at it.”
That point of view also helped shape Brenner’s return in Season 4. Instead of making him a typical bad guy, the writers explored his complicated relationship with Eleven and showed more of why he became the man behind Hawkins Lab in the first place.
The Netflix series never confirmed Modine’s theory. But ‘The First Shadow‘, the stage play written by ‘Stranger Things‘ writer Kate Trefry, dropped an interesting twist. It reveals that Captain Brenner, Dr. Brenner’s father, is actually known as “Subject 000” by the Department of Defense after becoming the only survivor of the USS Eldridge, which was transported to The Abyss, also known as Dimension X.
So yes, the play explains who Subject 000 really is. Still, one huge question remains. Did Dr. Brenner actually have powers? Nobody knows. Just like the mystery surrounding Eleven’s fate after the Season 5 finale, the answer has never been confirmed. Until then, fans can keep debating whether Matthew Modine was onto something or simply came up with one of the coolest fan theories in the ‘Stranger Things‘ universe.
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