Dr. Brenner’s Actor Comment Hints How He Can Return In Stranger Things S5

Matthew Modine, who plays Dr. Brenner in Stranger Things, recently hinted at how he could return for the final season of Netflix’s iconic series.

Dr. Martin Brenner, played by Matthew Modine, could return in Stranger Things season 5, and Modine has hinted at how. Season 5 is expected to be the final season of Stranger Things, closing the climactic story for once and for all. Given this, it would make sense to bring Brenner back in some way for the final chapter, especially considering how critical of a figure his character is in the Netflix smash-hit series.

Stranger Things season 4 ended with Vecna’s escape and Brenner being shot several times when trying to save Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown. While Brenner did appear to be definitively dead, Modine recently pitched an unlikely Stranger Things season 5 return for his character. Modine stubbornly insists that his character has survived everything else up to this point, and that his return remains in the realm of possibility.

Related: 1 Major Difference Between Eleven & Vecna’s Powers In Stranger Things

Dr. Brenner’s Ties To Eleven Make An Ending Appearance Not Unlikely

Dr. Brenner is central to Eleven’s arc, and that intimate connection makes it possible for Brenner to return in Stranger Things season 5. It certainly seems like Dr. Brenner is dead at the end of Stranger Things season 4, and it is unlikely that he is somehow resurrected in season 5. However, it seems plausible that he could return in a flashback or a dream of Eleven’s – because, as Modine says, his life and storyline is also linked to both Vecna and the Demogorgon, and his plot ties to them and El mean him going without mention in the final season seems borderline impossible.

Brenner did raise Eleven for the first few years of her life and manipulate her to an appalling degree. That type of influence does not simply dissipate after the man’s death. Brenner’s Number 1 experiment shows just how deeply he twisted his patients. It seems like the trauma Eleven went through in that Hawkins laboratory will haunt her forever, which makes it easily plausible that she sees Brenner in a nightmare. Moreover, as twisted as Brenner was, it was him that unlocked Eleven’s powers, and it could take a vision from him to do it again one day.

Stranger Things S4 Hinted That Dead Characters Can Return For Season 5

Stranger Things season 4 provides a blueprint for how dead characters can return in Stranger Things. The most poignant example is when Max, played by Sadie Sink, is being attacked by Vecna, and she sees and speaks with her brother, Billy, played by Dacre Montgomery. Billy is not alive again in this scene, however, Vecna is able to recreate a real-seeming version of him by using Max’s memories. Should Vecna manage to get ahold of Eleven in another Stranger Things rematch, it seems like Brenner would be the person Vecna would use to manipulate her.

Vecna and Eleven are bound to fight an epic rematch, but there will surely be some sorrow and struggle before their final encounter. If that means Eleven being temporarily caught and manipulated by Vecna, it seems very likely that she would see Brenner during her visions, just as Max saw Billy. Furthermore, if it is one of Eleven’s friends that gets caught, she’s likely to have a nightmare or vision that could include Brenner. Either way, it is too early to rule out a Dr. Brenner return in Stranger Things season 5, especially when the show has set out viable ways for a final appearance from the character.

More: Why Number 1 Killed Everyone In Hawkins Lab – But Not Dr. Brenner