| “ | Six. Six people have been taken this week. This thing that took your son… We don’t really understand it. But its behavior is predictable. Like all animals, it eats. It will take more sons. More daughters. I want to save them. I want to save your son. But I can’t do that. Not without your help.
— Dr. Brenner explaining the Demogorgon to Joyce Byers.
|
” |
Dr. Martin Brenner is a major character and antagonist in the first season of Stranger Things. He is portrayed by Matthew Modine.
Brenner was a senior research scientist and the director of Hawkins National Laboratory. He raised Eleven in the lab, testing and pushing the limits of her psychic abilities through various experiments. In one such experiment, Brenner indirectly unleashed a monster from another dimension into Hawkins, allowing Eleven to escape the lab. In the following week, Brenner and his team searched for Eleven while investigating the newly opened gateway to the other dimension. After being attacked by the Monster, his fate is currently unknown, with rumors circulating from one of his co-workers that he was still alive.
Quick Answers
What role does Dr. Brenner play in the first season of Stranger Things?
How does Dr. Brenner's character evolve in the fourth season of Stranger Things?
What is the significance of Dr. Brenner's guest appearance in the second season of Stranger Things?
What is the relationship between Dr. Brenner and Eleven in Stranger Things?
How does Matthew Modine portray the character of Dr. Brenner in Stranger Things?
History
Background
Brenner with his MKUltra participants
Dr. Brenner was involved in the controversial Project MKUltra, a CIA-sanctioned research program designed to develop mind-control techniques in which the subject suffered extreme conditions at the hands of the researchers, including use of psychedelic drugs, physical and mental abuse, sleep deprivation, and malnourishment.
One of the volunteer test subjects, college student Terry Ives, was pregnant during the program. She gave birth to a daughter named Jane, which Brenner and his staff abducted due to the child's dormant psychokinetic abilities, brought on upon her as a result of the experimentation on her mother.[2]
After Project MKUltra was shut down, Terry filed a lawsuit against Brenner, but it was dismissed citing lack of evidence. When the details of MKUltra became public knowledge, Hawkins Lab managed to block inquiries despite their legal obligation.[3]
Terry attempted to retrieve Jane, breaking into Hawkins Lab with a gun. However, Terry was quickly apprehended and brought to Brenner. Brenner forced Terry to be subjected to electroshock therapy, which left her in a seemingly permanent catatonic state for years after.
Dr. Brenner raised Jane under the "name" Eleven. Brenner built himself up as a father figure in the mind of Eleven, making her refer to him as "Papa".
1983
Brenner trained and developed her psychic abilities. One of these abilities was the use of remote viewing aided by a sensory deprivation tank, used to spy on a Russian agent at a distance far away.
Brenner talks Eleven through her next task
As Eleven was spying on the agent, she encountered a monster which was heard over the loudspeakers in Brenner's control booth. Though Eleven was terrified, Dr. Brenner was intrigued and told her to make contact with the creature. However, upon this moment, a Gate to an alternate dimension cracked open in the wall of the tank room, through which the monster passed before killing one of Brenner's co-workers.
Brenner scans for an "extraordinary" energy signature in the Byers shed, finding evidence of a portal
In the commotion caused by the Gate's opening, Eleven managed to escape from the lab. Brenner and other scientists investigated the lab's underground subsystem where they discovered that strange tendrils and toxic biologic growth native to the other dimension was beginning to spread through the corridors. Brenner and his team of agents began searching for Eleven and the Monster.[4]
The monster kidnapped a boy named Will Byers, which Brenner worked to cover up by placing a fake corpse in the local quarry. Brenner investigated the Byers' shed, finding traces of some bizarre, supernatural energy.
Brenner and Hopper negotiate
Brenner discovered Eleven was staying with Will's friends, and sent agents to capture her - however, with the help of Eleven, they managed to evade them. Jim Hopper and Will's mother Joyce attempted to break into the lab, but were almost immediately apprehended and brought to Brenner. In exchange for access to the Gate and the chance to save Will, Hopper disclosed that Eleven was located in Hawkins Middle School. Brenner, assisted by agents, traveled to the school and attempted to take her back to the laboratory. Although Eleven killed some of the agents using her biokinetic powers, she was drained of strength and collapsed. Brenner cradled her and tried to convince her that he would fix everything and she would be brought back home, but Eleven saw through his facade and rejected him, crying out to reach Mike. In the mean time, the blood spilt from dead bodies attracted the Demogorgon, which distracted the surviving agents, allowing Eleven and her friends to escape. Brenner was attacked by the Demogorgon shortly after their escape. It was unknown whether Brenner survived the attack.
1984
In 1984, Ray Carroll, a former agent for the Department of Energy, claimed to Eleven and Kali that Bren
Kali's illusionary Brenner appears before Eleven
ner was still alive, and that he knew of his whereabouts.
Kali later created an illusion of Brenner in front of Eleven, who still believed that Brenner was dead. The illusionary Brenner taunted Eleven, telling her that she was afraid of confronting her pain and had "a terrible wound".
Personality
As a researcher and director of Hawkins National Laboratory, Dr. Brenner was highly manipulative, calculative, ruthless and ambitious. He was solely responsible for the abduction of Terry Ives's daughter, Eleven, to experiment on the child's dormant psychokinetic abilities. His atrocious nature was evident when he forced Eleven's mother to undergo electroshock therapy after she attempted to retrieve her daughter.
He was shown to be vicious when Eleven disobeyed him as he used to put her through cruel psychological torture and forcefully kept her in solitary confinement, even though she was just a child. He would also encourage her to push the limits of her psychic abilities, caring little about the toil she had to suffer. However, if she performed well, Brenner would "reward" her with affection and endearment.
Brenner would also adopt extreme measures to cover up the events of the Upside Down, for instance, manufacturing the fake body of Will even though Will was actually kidnapped, sending military agents and helicopters to take Eleven back as well as imprisoning Joyce and Hopper to compel them to reveal her location in exchange for saving Will.
Relationships
Test subjects
Eleven
Eleven's history with Brenner runs deep: not only did he define her childhood, but he was potentially responsible for her very existence. Brenner had experimented on her mother Terry, who had volunteered to become a MKUltra test subject. While undergoing these tests, Terry mysteriously became pregnant. After discovering the pregnancy, Brenner took the child away directly from birth, raising her at Hawkins Lab.
Throughout childhood, Eleven was treated harshly and severely. Brenner appeared to be Eleven's only source of social engagement, and thus she grew to be dependent on his attention. Brenner built himself up as a father figure, establishing a somewhat tender demeanor when in her presence. However, an unstated threat was present in even the most affectionate words he uttered, lurking just beneath the surface.
When Eleven performed well, Brenner would "reward" her with affection. When Eleven disobeyed him, she would instead be subjected to cruel psychological torture. Even when Eleven was on her best behavior, she spent much of her time in solitary confinement, locked in a "bedroom" cell. Brenner's only true interest in the girl was her extraordinary power; her physical or mental health was merely of tangential importance to his goal. When Eleven performed extraordinary feats, Brenner appeared proud of her accomplishments.
After Eleven, escaping from the lab, met Mike and his friends and experienced genuinely loving relationships for the first time, she could finally see through Brenner's facade. When he eventually found her and promised to take her home, she rejected his offer, instead crying and reaching out to her new friends.
Terry Ives
Terry Ives was one of Brenner's MKUltra test subjects. After Brenner took her daughter from her, Terry grew to loathe him, filing a lawsuit against him.
Kali
Brenner was responsible for Kali's abduction and imprisonment in the lab at an early age and also adopted same manipulation tactics on her as he did with Eleven, attempting to condition her into viewing him as a father figure.
Appearances
| Season One appearances | |||
| The Vanishing of Will Byers | The Weirdo on Maple Street | Holly, Jolly | The Body |
| The Flea and the Acrobat | The Monster | The Bathtub | The Upside Down |
| Season Two appearances | |||
| Dig Dug | |||
| The Lost Sister | The Gate | ||
Memorable Quotes
- "Will you trust me?"
- "Incredible."
- "Extraordinary..."
- "It's reaching out to you, because it wants you - it's calling you, so don't turn away from it this time..."
- "She can't have got far..."
- "You have a wound, Eleven. A terrible wound.... And it's festering."
Behind the scenes
Originally, Brenner was supposed to resemble a lumberjack, with a beard, flannel shirt, jeans, and boots. Matthew Modine, who portrays Brenner, believed a more clean-shaven look would be more compelling and collaborated with the show's costume team to redesign the character. When restyling Brenner, Modine was inspired by several sources; his white hair was inspired by Robert Shaw's character in Battle of the Bulge (1965), his suit by Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959), and his cap-toe shoes were influenced by John Kennedy.[5]
After the premiere of the first season, the Duffer brothers explained the difficulty in developing Brenner's role since the character had less screen-time and limited interactions with the other characters. However, they were charmed with Matthew Modine and decided to write the character based on him. Matthew's acting skills helped the Duffers to represent Brenner as someone who was mysterious and dark and could manipulate things.[6]
Trivia
- One of the clippings at the police station, shown briefly in the epilogue of Chapter Eight, refers to a Dr. Richard Brenner as the head of the Narcotic Enforcement Division. The use of "Richard" instead of "Martin" is mostly likely an error made by the production team.
Gallery
|
For this subject's gallery, see Martin Brenner/Gallery. |
References
- ↑ Executive producer Shawn Levy confirms Dr. Brenner is still Alive in Business Insider interview
- ↑ Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter Six: The Monster"
- ↑ Information retrieved from newspaper articles seen in "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly."
- ↑ Stranger Things Season 1: "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers"
- ↑ "Matthew Modine’s Character Was Supposed to Look Like a ‘Lumberjack’ on ‘Stranger Things’" FN . January 28, 2017.
- ↑ "Stranger Things: the Duffer brothers share the secrets of their hit show"Empire. July 27, 2016.