Stranger Things may be heading into its final season, but a new behind-the-scenes video hints at the unexpected return of a character previously thought dead. Set to be released sometime in 2025, season 5 will pick up 18 months after the cataclysmic events of season 4, in the fall of 1987. Not only did Stranger Things season 4’s ending leave Sadie Sink’s Max comatose, and teetering precariously between life and death, but the Upside Down had begun breaking through to the township of Hawkins, Indiana.
Yet death may not be an impediment to all characters, as Stranger Things star Matthew Modine has recently taken to Instagram to tease his return as Dr Martin Brenner, posting a behind-the-scenes video of him in a makeup chair having facial prosthetics and a bald cap applied. In the clip, Modine’s character now appears considerably older than his last onscreen appearance when he was shot, and presumably killed, by a sniper’s bullet in the Nevada desert during season 4. Check out Modine’s post below:
What Brenner’s Return Means For Stranger Things Season 5
Modine’s Character Has Already Cheated Death Once
The unexpected return of Modine’s character in Stranger Things season 5 may come as a surprise to some viewers, but Dr. Martin Brenner is already well known for cheating death. In the show’s season 1 finale, Brenner was also seemingly killed by the Demogorgon that Eleven had unwittingly released from the Upside Down. While his survival was teased in season 2 by a former Hawkins Laboratory worker in season 2, it was not until Stranger Things season 4 that he was revealed as the new co-lead on the clandestine NINA project.
Yet Modine’s new look would suggest that there is far more at play than his character escaping death for a second time. With Stranger Things season 5 picking up only 18 months after his character was presumably slain, it would be exceedingly unlikely that Brenner’s character would have aged to the degree evidenced by Modine’s new facial prosthetics. However, the show has also become synonymous with delivering unexpected plot twists, so Brenner’s return and advanced age may indeed have a logical explanation.
Our Take On How Stranger Things Season 5 Will Use Modine’s Character
Brenner’s Return May Link To A New Villain
Given that the Duffer brothers have already had Brenner cheat death once, it would likely feel redundant to have him survive against all odds a second time. Instead, the most likely explanation for Brenner’s return probably lies in connection with the mysteries of the Upside Down, possibly even in connection with Stranger Things’ potential new villain, Camazotz. Teased via the show’s season 5 episode titles, Camazotz likely draws its name from both Mayan mythology and Dungeons & Dragons lore. However, another potential connection to A Wrinkle in Time could also hint at Camazotz’s links with mind control.
As such, Brenner’s return may turn out to be little more than the hallucinations induced by the show’s next deadly creature. With Eleven the most likely candidate to be affected by visions of a resurrected Brenner, Camazotz, or even Vecna himself, may be attempting to taunt and confuse the show’s young heroine with glimpses of a future in which Brenner had never been killed. Whether this theory fits with what the Duffer brothers have planned for Stranger Things season 5 remains to be seen, but it seems a far more likely scenario than Modine’s character surviving a sniper’s bullet.
