Matthew Modine says there’s ‘more’ to Papa on Stranger Things

Matthew Modine says there might be – or should be – more to Papa on Stranger Things. So, what is the truth?

Over the course of four seasons of Stranger Things, Matthew Modine’s Papa has proven to be one of the series’ most intriguing and complex characters. You never know what side he is on, even when he is on yours.

It seemed, however, that his trajectory came to an end in the show’s latest season. Papa helped Eleven get her powers back and protected her against the military, but she still considered his past transgressions and left him for dead in the desert.

But get this: we never actually find out whether he truly died. When we last see him – after Eleven leaves him behind – he’s looking up at the sky with multiple bullet wounds and seemingly stops breathing, but we never get an actual confirmation of his death.

Matthew Modine, however, refuses to accept that that was how his character had come to an end. Speaking to Vulture, the actor claimed that there might be more than meets the eye to Dr. Martin Brenner.

“I wouldn’t want him to be dead.” Modine said to Vulture, before launching into his own theories.

“Three things are curious to me: How did he survive the Demogorgon? How did he survive One? And when Eleven tries to use her power against Dr. Brenner after blowing three guards in the air, he unflinchingly thwarts her and says, ‘You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?’ She couldn’t get it to work on him. Is there something more to Brenner than meets the eye?” he said.

Whether Papa has some hidden power is yet to be seen, but Modine himself is all for that redemption arc.

“I love the power of redemption. I love the what it represents,” Modine added. He also claimed that he would like to see his final sendoff come with some forgiveness – which, coincidentally, Eleven denies him in Stranger Things Season 4. 

“The horror of what Brenner did is accepting and understanding his culpability in the death of all those children because of what One did. So if Eleven and Kali, or just Eleven, forgave him and sent him off, he would spend the remaining days of his life knowing he had been forgiven but having to accept responsibility for what he did.” he said.

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Watch the trailer for Stranger Things Season 4, Vol. 2: 

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