The following contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 4, Volume 2, now on Netflix.
Stranger Things co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer recently nailed down the final fate of Doctor Brenner in the horror/sci-fi series' fourth season.
The Duffers confirmed that Brenner (Matthew Modine) did indeed die in "Chapter Eight: Papa," in an interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "Yes, [Brenner died] for real this time... he's toast," Ross Duffer said. Matt Duffer echoed his brother's statement, adding: "Definitively, he's dead." A controversial figure among Stranger Things fans, the Machiavellian Brenner was killed in a hail of gunfire while trying to escape the US Army with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) cradled in his arms.
The Duffers also confirmed that Stranger Things Season 4's breakout character Eddie Munson didn't survive his heroic act of self-sacrifice in "Chapter Nine: The Piggyback." Although Eddie (Joseph Quinn) sustained several serious wounds while distracting a swarm of bat-like creatures in the Upside Down, many fans were hoping he was somehow still alive. The Duffers' comments have dashed these hopes, with the pair making it clear that Eddie won't make a miraculous off-screen recovery.
At least one eagle-eyed Stranger Things viewer recently spotted an Easter egg that seemingly foreshadowed Eddie Munson's death from his very first appearance. As pointed out by Eddie super fan Kiersten Farris on Twitter, Quinn's makeup throughout Season 4 includes a tattoo of several bats in flight, an apparent nod to his demise in the finale. The Duffers have yet to publicly comment on whether this foreshadowing was intentional, however.
The Stranger Things co-creators also touched on the current status of Max Mayfield, who nearly perished at the hands of Season 4 antagonist Vecna in "Chapter Nine: The Piggyback." The Duffers joked that despite the severe injuries Max (Sadie Sink) suffered, she was nevertheless in good shape. "Yeah, she's brain-dead, but she's alive," Matt Duffer confirmed, with Ross Duffer chiming in: "Brain-dead and blind, and all of her bones broken, but she's doing great."
Social media was rife with speculation that Max would die in Stranger Things Season 4 after a fan account posted behind-the-scenes images that supposedly spoiled her fate in the finale. The photos showed Sink in gruesome eye makeup that appeared to line up with Vecna's preferred method of dispatching his victims throughout the fourth season. Reports of Max's death ultimately proved to be greatly exaggerated, however, as the makeup pics were actually snapped on the set of Netflix's Fear Street trilogy, instead.
Source: Twitter