Stranger Things Season 5 has been confirmed to be the popular show’s last and is currently in production. A lot of news is coming out about the highly-anticipated final chapter of the Netflix sci-fi horror mystery series. One of the most prominent among them surrounds the potential return of a supposedly dead character.
Matthew Modine’s Papa likely to return in Stranger Things Season 5
Matthew Modine’s Dr. Martin Brenner or Papa has been an important character in the overarching narrative of Stranger Things, especially due to his connection to Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven / Jane Hopper (“El”). In Season 4, he has one more interaction with Eleven before she leaves, and he dies alone in the desert of Nevada. However, with the filming for the final season currently ongoing, Modine appears to have teased his return on his Instagram page.
The actor recently posted an old video from several years back, and wrote in the caption, “strangerthings5 #bts #drmartinbrenner #papa #indestructible,” hinting at a potential return of the character.
Nothing has been officially confirmed neither by the actor nor by Netflix. But the post led fans to speculate what it could mean. Notably, this isn’t the first time that Modine has suggested his character might still be part of the storyline.
In a 2022 interview with Vulture, the Full Metal Jacket actor was asked if he would say his character was dead. “No, I wouldn’t,” he responded. “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?”
Modine also implied that he would like to explore themes such as redemption and forgiveness with the character. Series creators The Duffer Brothers confirmed Brenner’s death during a 2022 appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. However, Matt Duffer told Deadline in the same year that they would explore the initial days of Brenner’s experiments. This indicates that the character might appear in flashbacks.
