Why One Stranger Things Character May Not Be Who They Seem, According To The Actor

Dr. Brenner in Hawkins Lab

As temperatures rise and days get longer, small screen fans begin to look forward to summer TV season. The undisputed breakaway hit of last summer was Netflix's Stranger Things, which instantly became pop culture royalty and spawned hundreds of Eleven Halloween costumes. And while we'll have to wait until October 31st for Season 2 to be released, anticipation will only continue to grow as we inch closer to Stranger Things' highly anticipated sophomore season. And now cast member has addressed a character that may not be what they seem.

Matthew Modine plays the mysterious Dr. Brenner in Stranger Things, who seemed to possibly meet a grisly fate in the season finale. But Modine has an interesting perspective on his character, and why we may have gotten him all wrong.

I want to know the backstory of Dr. Brenner and Eleven. If she's number eleven, is that a binary number? Were there 10 people before her? Is it like Heinz 57 sauce --- were there 56 attempts before they got to 57? I don't know and I want to know. The thing that interests me is that everyone thinks Brenner's a bad guy. But I think what may have happened is that he opened Pandora's box. He knows how dangerous she is, and that's why he's so desperately trying to bring her back to the laboratory. That's my feeling, anyway.

Not gonna lie, this answer (via Yahoo) actually sounds pretty legit. We don't know much about Eleven and Dr. Brenner's past, as well as how potentially dangerous Eleven is. So hopefully Season 2 will be able to expand their history.

From first glance, Dr. Brenner certainly seems like a shady character. In Eleven's brief flashbacks, we see the various experiments she has been forced to attempt, as well as the physical toll is takes on the young telekinetic. And when Eleven fails or lashes out, Brenner and his associates use gross negligence and lock her in a cell.

In the modern timeline, we mostly saw as Dr. Brenner and the other folks at Hawkins Lab attempt to track down Eleven by any means necessary. Although this seems nefarious at first glance, he is trying to contain a situation that has gone thoroughly out of control. She accidentally opened the tear to The Upside Down, and she's definitely the only one who could vanquish the Demogorgon. So while we wanted Eleven safe at Mike's, her lack of action could result in more Hawkins residents being killed or taken by the monster.

The last we saw Dr. Brenner, it looked like the Demogorgon was going to make him a slug filled corpse like Barb. But his death was never seen on screen, so it seems likely that he'll return in Season 2.

Stranger Things will premiere its second season over at Netflix on October 31st. In the meantime, check out our summer premiere list to plan your next binge watch.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.