Will Stranger Things season 3 have some of the 1980s children see the future, possibly even Eleven herself? At the heart of Stranger Things lies the idea that some individuals have real potential psychic abilities. For years, the sinister Dr. Brenner has been conducting secret experiments upon children who he believed possessed these powers. He's had at least two successes, revealing just what the human mind can be capable of.

Dr. Brenner's most notable success, of course, is Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown); the star of Stranger Things, a young girl who possesses tremendous telekinetic powers and can flip trucks with her mind. Stranger Things season 2 then introduced another of Dr. Brenner's previous test subjects, Kali, a girl who could cast an illusion into another person's mind. Ever since, there's been speculation among fans of the show that Stranger Things could introduce other psychic abilities, perhaps by revealing that some of Dr. Brenner's other test subjects really did have superhuman abilities as well.

Related: Stranger Things 2 Fixes Season 1's Biggest Problem

Century Books has just published the first official Stranger Things tie-in novelSuspicious Minds, by Gwenda Bond. It spins back in time to 1969, and focuses on a group of college-age teenagers who became Dr. Brenner's first test subjects at Hawkins, Indiana. One of them is Terry Ives, Eleven's mother. But another girl, Alice Johnson, is of most interest; the book reveals that she had psychic powers too - ones that even Dr. Brenner failed to discovered - that could have a big impact on Stranger Things season 3.

The Upside-Down Can Be Used To View The Future

Per Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds, Alice Johnson was a strange woman, born into a family of drug addicts and brought up by her uncle. She worked at his garage, and had come to love machines and technology, developing real skill at pulling them apart and putting them back together. When Alice saw an ad asking for women with remarkable skills, her uncle encouraged her to answer, and she unwittingly stumbled into Dr. Brenner's experiments. Brenner was still trying to figure out how this new science worked and what could trigger psychic powers; he gave Alice drugs and subjected her to electroshock therapy to see if he could activate any latent ability within her.

Although he didn't realize it, Brenner's experiments were highly successful. Alice began to glimpse the Upside-Down, and then more detailed visions of strange creatures (from the descriptions the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer), an older Dr. Brenner and experiments on a child she deduced was Terry's daughter, Jane, aka Eleven. Alice's power, new to the world of Stranger Things, was the ability to see the future.

This has some major implications for the future of Stranger Things. Not much more is explicitly stated about Alice's power, but it's implied this clairvoyance comes from an ability to tap into the Upside-Down. Suspicious Minds also strongly suggests that visionaries are unable to change what will happen; for all Alice and Terry's best efforts, Jane still wound up in Dr. Brenner's clutches and became Eleven.

Does Eleven Have The Ability To See The Future?

Eleven standing outside on Stranger Things

Naturally, this raises the question of whether or not Eleven herself can see the future by accessing the Upside-Down in Stranger Things. She's certainly the most remarkable of all Dr. Brenner's test subjects, the only one who could actually open and close portals between the real world and the Upside-Down.

Related: Stranger Things Was Almost Completely Different Before Netflix

For all Eleven's power, though, there's currently no evidence she's capable of this additional feat. So far in Stranger Things, there's not been any overlap in terms of the power-sets displayed by Dr. Brenner's test subjects; Eleven is a telekinetic, Kali can project illusions, and Alice can have visions of years into the future. It's reasonable to assume this is a deliberate decision on the part of showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer, allowing them to impose limits on what their characters are capable of.

However, that doesn't mean this new power will be irrelevant and just a fun aside. According to Suspicious Minds, Dr. Brenner's first seven test subjects were duds, lacking any psychic abilities. But the book is conspicuously silent about numbers Nine and Ten, and there's no reason Dr. Brenner stopped trying to find more potential subjects after Eleven was born. Brenner's confirmed to still be alive, meaning he's probably continuing to perform his sick experiments by the time of Stranger Things season 3. Who knows what other psychic abilities he's tapped into over the years? Alice managed to hide her visions from Dr. Brenner, but there's no reason to assume other subjects had the same success.

Page 2 of 2: How Will Seeing The Future Impact Stranger Things Season 3

Eight's nose bleeding in Stranger Things

How Could The Present Day Fit Into Stranger Things Season 3?

The Duffer brothers are still keeping the plot of Stranger Things season 3 under wraps, but it's reasonable to assume that Kali's quest for revenge on Dr. Brenner will figure into the plot somehow. If that's the case, then that logically leads the show back to MKUltra and more of Brenner's test subjects. While the Duffer brothers have said they're wary of introducing too many new characters, there are approaches that would be natural and organic: Eight and Eleven could potentially discover new victims in a bid to rescue them, or Dr. Brenner could use every resource at his disposal in order to stay alive, including other psychics he's experimented upon over the years.

If there are new powers in Stranger Things season 3, it would make sense for it to be set up in a previous book - such as seeing the future in Suspicious Minds. Clairvoyance would certainly fit the 1980s-set show; the very fact Stranger Things is a period piece means it's easy for the Duffers to create the "future," which could be anytime between the 1980s and even the present day. Stranger Things has always been careful to incorporate its period setting into its narrative, paying homage to popular culture at the time, but this would be a fresh spin.

Related: Stranger Things 2's Controversial Episode Is Its Most Exciting Story

A character - Eleven or otherwise - seeing the future would also pose some interesting story possibilities. Can the future be changed in the world of Stranger Things? Would a season 3 vision of the future show the Mind Flayer triumphing, leaving Eleven and her friends to desperately try and avert that possible future? Visions of dystopia are a tired trope, but Stranger Things delights in breathing new life into cliches that have been done to death. Another possibility, of course, is that the future cannot be changed, which could create its own, more existential drama.

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Whatever the Duffer brothers have planned for Stranger Things season 3, a whole new power becoming an established part of that world feels like a very big clue. Suspicious Minds adds new depth to Dr. Brenner's backstory, and explores the family history of Eleven and just how the child wound up in Brenner's care; it's only the first of these tie-in novels, with another recently announced that features Jim Hopper.

More: Stranger Things Season 3: Every Update You Need To Know

Stranger Things season 3 will release on Netflix on July 4.