Stranger Things just dropped its second teaser trailer for the upcoming 4th season, reintroducing Dr. Brenner’s role in Eleven’s upbringing and theories on how he will return to the series. Fans have proposed many theories on what happened to him after his last real appearance in season 1, and the new teaser suggests he’ll be coming back for more than just a flashback in season 4. Eleven and her surviving siblings, as indicated by Eight’s vengeance in season 2, aren’t finished with Dr. Brenner, so the next season will likely focus on resolving their tortured childhoods.
The new Stranger Things teaser features some of the young children who were Eleven’s “siblings” as test subjects at Hawkins Lab. Halfway through the teaser, Dr. Brenner walks into the rainbow room greeting the children to a resounding “Good morning, Papa.” The scenario raises more questions than it answers; namely what happened to the other lab kids and why Dr. Brenner has Eleven separated from the other children. The last moment of the teaser has Brenner eerily asking over an intercom, “Eleven, are you listening?”
Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), also referred to by the lab children as “Papa,” masterminded the controversial Project MKUltra at Hawkins Lab, and indirectly led Eleven to release the Demogorgon while spying on a Russian agent. As the children were stripped from their families and identities, Brenner was their father figure while exploiting and traumatizing the young kids for scientific gain. The last time Stranger Things significantly featured Brenner was at the end of season 1 when he was attacked and presumably killed by the Demogorgon. Because there was no blood when Brenner was attacked and a former colleague suggested he was alive, fans have theorized his whereabouts, how he survived, and his involvement in Stranger Things season 4.
Dr. Brenner Is In The Upside Down
Building on the assumption that no blood was seen when Brenner was confronted by the Demogorgon, his survival could mirror Eleven’s confrontation with the Demogorgon at the end of Stranger Things season 1. If so, Brenner likely also would have been transported into the Upside Down. This would make sense considering some former employees of Hawkins Lab know of Brenner’s survival, and they have a mediocre knowledge of the Upside Down. It’s possible Dr. Brenner made contact with Hawkins Lab officials to inform them of his survival and has been conducting more experiments and tests in the alternate dimension.
Dr. Brenner Is In Russia
After Stranger Things season 3’s post-credits scene with Russian prison guards mentioning “The American,” most fans speculated the prisoner was Hopper, while others pointed to Dr. Brenner. Hopper was revealed to be laboring at the Russian prison facility in Stranger Things’ first season 4 teaser, but that doesn’t discount Brenner also being taken to the facility. Some Hopper theories suggest he was transported to Russia and captured through the Upside Down, which may be what happened to Dr. Brenner in season 1. The Russians have obviously learned to contain the Demogorgans and use them against prisoners, and this knowledge may have willingly or unwillingly been passed on by Brenner.
Brenner Is Helping The Russians Stop Eleven
Though Brenner used Eleven’s powers to spy on Russians in Stranger Things season 1, he may have changed allegiances or been a spy. He would be an important asset to the Russian use of Demogorgans considering his extensive knowledge of the Upside Down and Eleven as a weapon. Eleven has temporarily lost her powers which makes her less of a threat to the Russians and Upside Down, but the Russians and Brenner have no knowledge of this change. Brenner knows the general extent of her powers and would know how to manipulate them, as he was instrumental in shaping and growing them.
Dr. Brenner Is Helping Russians Create A New Eleven Near Chernobyl
Reddit user yourmumsnightmare theorized that Brenner is not in Kamchatka, Russia with Hopper, but conducting experiments in Ukraine near the Chernobyl power plant. While the two locations are thousands of miles apart, it may not be a coincidence that some of the Stranger Things plot will occur in the Eastern Hemisphere at the same time as the historic 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The theory claims that Brenner will still be working for the Russians, but at a remote facility in Ukraine. The Redditor speculates Brenner will be using the same testing techniques that crafted Eleven and her siblings’ special powers to create even more powerful people for the Russians. While traveling to Russia to save Hopper, Eleven would hear of Brenner’s “Experiment Twelve” at Chernobyl and leave to find him. The fan also theorizes that Brenner’s tests there will allow Eleven to regain the powers she seemingly lost at the end of Stranger Things season 3. Eleven would then battle the Russian “Twelve,” wherein their telekinetic fight causes the disastrous nuclear explosion.
Hopper Will Kill Brenner In Russia
If the first two Stranger Things theories of Brenner escaping to Russia and being involved in assisting the Russian government are correct, Brenner will likely come into direct contact with Hopper, who has much resentment and vengeance against the scientist. Hopper killing Brenner would be a way of officially transferring Eleven’s father figure status to Hopper. Brenner “raised” Eleven until she was about 11 or 12 years old, but she and Hopper formed an emotional bond much more akin to a parent-child relationship. If Brenner is a leader in the Russian effort, Hopper may need to kill him to escape the prison or to stop Brenner from pursuing Eleven. Brenner may consider himself Eleven’s “Papa,” but nobody cares for El’s wellbeing more than Hopper.
Dr. Brenner Is A Demogorgan
If so, Brenner may be the Demogorgon seen during Stranger Things season 3’s post-credits scene at the Russian prison. This theory would reflect Alien, which Stranger Things does tend to draw inspiration from for the Demogorgon character. A well-known deleted scene from Alien reveals people being cocooned by the alien creature, eventually morphing into an egg that absorbs the human’s nutrients and hatches as another monster. This is understood as a way for the aliens to turn human hosts into the same creatures and is also known as “eggmorphing.” It’s possible this same technique was used by season 1’s Demogorgon that attacked Brenner, eventually turning Brenner into a Demogorgon in the Upside Down.
Brenner being a Demogorgon isn’t too far-fetched considering the rat-fertilizer minions of the Mind Flayer could form the human bodies of the person they were inhabiting or become the horrific rat-blob version. An interesting twist for Stranger Things would be if Demogorgons still retained some of their human inclinations like the Mind Flayer’s hosts, especially Billy, in season 3. If so, the Demogorgon could take on Brenner’s human form or be able to recall Eleven. The creation of Demogorgons in Stranger Things is unknown, so it’s possible human hosts in the Upside Down that live are eventually transformed into the Demogorgon creatures.