Matthew Modine Thinks His Stranger Things Character Had His Own Superpowers

Matthew Modine developed his own special lore for his “Stranger Things” character, Dr. Brenner: Since Vecna is subject 001, “Papa” must be 000. 

When one Instagram user praised Dr. Brenner’s return to the show in Season 4, they couldn’t help but wonder how the character survived his seemingly fatal attack by a Demogorgon. So, Modine responded with his own personal head canon. “I imagine #drbrenner had to possess some skills or powers himself.” he wrote (via Reddit). “How else could he have started or led this program? He would have needed to convince someone that it was possible to train young people to develop their hidden potentials. So I imagined and suggest that #papa was — let’s say — 000.” According to Modine, Brenner’s powers are what allowed him to save himself in both Season 1 and the massacre at Hawkins Lab.

Matthew Modine has been discussing this theory for a long time. In a 2022 interview with Men’s Health, he elaborated on his belief that Brenner may possess abilities of his own. He believes this because Dr. Brenner not only survived the Demogorgon, but 001’s attack alongside Eleven. He also points to the moment when Eleven attempts to use her powers against Brenner, only for him to respond, “You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” 

Since the Duffers didn’t discuss each character’s history with the actors, it allowed them to color in their roles with their own imaginative details.

Whether or not Dr. Brenner was supernatural, or if he was Subject 000, was never on the Duffers’ minds; They were more fascinated by how Matthew Modine never saw him as a straight-up bad guy. Matt Duffer observed in Deadline, “Matthew was always very defensive of Brenner. If he saw fans criticizing him or him called the villain, he would bristle at it.”

That nuanced perspective ultimately informed the Duffers’ own depiction of “Papa.” They brought him back in Season 4 to dig into the “juicy drama” of Eleven being forced to turn to the one person she once trusted to help save Hawkins, as well as explore Dr. Brenner’s motivations for becoming the mastermind behind Hawkins Lab. 

However, the stage play “The First Shadow,” written by “Stranger Things” staff writer Kate Trefry, actually reveals the identity of 000 and their surprising connection to Dr. Brenner, proving Matthew Modine’s theory wasn’t too far off. In the show, we learn that Captain Brenner, Dr. Brenner’s father, is referred to as “Subject 000” by the Department of Defense. The captain was the sole survivor of the USS Eldridge that was transported to The Abyss/Dimension X. 

While that answers the question of who 000 is in the “Stranger Things” universe, it still doesn’t answer whether or not Dr. Brenner has powers. That remains a mystery, like so many of the lingering questions after the Season 5 finale — including whether or not Eleven is alive or dead. “Stranger Things” fans will have to decide for themselves whether or not Dr. Brenner has powers.