By Matthew Creith | Published
Since stranger things premiered its season 4 earlier this summer, viewers wondered if some of their favorite characters would be killed off in the fifth and final season. Series star Millie Bobby Brown recently expressed her desire to see some of her fellow cast members get the ax next season. After four seasons of the hit TV show, only the show’s secondary characters seem to die off, saving the main characters to fight Vecna in the final battle. The most high-profile character deaths have come from single-season wonders like Barb and Eddie Munson, who took one for the team to help save their friends in the Upside Down. Now, it looks like one of the stars would have you believe he didn’t die in season four, despite fans and viewers at home believing otherwise.
According to a report from comicbook.com, stranger things Star Matthew Modine disputes the death of his character in season 4 of the series. Modine plays Dr. Martin Brenner, the lead scientist at Hawkins Laboratory, who experimented on Eleven and other children in order to manipulate their powers. He is said to have died in the first season, but his character is shown to be alive in season four, as he became instrumental in Eleven regaining his powers to fight Vecna. At the end of season four, Brenner is killed when the United States military storms his installation in the Nevada desert.
Yet Matthew Modine would have you believe otherwise. In an interview with Vulture, Modine confirmed how it seemed to the public that Dr. Brenner had indeed been killed in stranger things season 4 but that he won’t let himself believe it’s true. During the interview, Modine said, “I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I love the Duffers. I don’t want to believe it’s over, because I can’t wait to work with Millie again. He goes on to say that he has a theory that Dr. Brenner isn’t everything he’s portrayed so far on the show that there may be more to it than meets the eye. This could allude to her character having similar abilities to Eleven, in part because most of the time Eleven tried to thwart Brenner’s plans, it backfired.
At the moment, it has not been confirmed if Matthew Modine will reprise his role in season 5 of stranger things, despite his public appeals to showrunners. As it concerns stranger things season 4 is concerned, it looks like his character may have kicked the bucket, but the show is known for its surprises and extended endings. As reported by Esquire, the Duffer Brothers opened the fifth-season finale to eight large-scale conclusions, similar to the one in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The fifth season will be the last of the popular Netflix series, which has shown no signs of slowing down. The epic final episode of season four was over two hours long, similar to a feature film. Expect nothing less from the Duffers as they prepare to begin filming season five, with or without actor Matthew Modine.