The Netflix series Stranger Things has led the Duffer Brothers down new roads and even collaborated with some iconic creators. However, before Netflix introduced the world to Hawkins, Indiana, and the horrors within it, the show began as a concept called Montauk. Many elements in Montauk differed from the final product, including Eleven's relationship with her mother and how she gained her abilities.
The show confirmed that Eleven's story began in the Hawkins National Laboratory during Project MKUltra. The project, headed by Dr. Brenner (played by Matthew Modine), is based on an actual CIA program that tried to develop new mind-control abilities to combat the Soviet Union during the Cold War. One facet of the project involved taking psychedelic drugs to see how they affected the subjects. College student Terry Ives (played by Aimee Mullins) joined the project, and during treatment, scientists discovered that she was pregnant. The child is immediately taken from her and labeled a miscarriage, which the mother never believed. The child, named 011 (played by Millie Bobby Brown), was experimented on to determine how Terry's participation in the psychedelic tests affected her child.
Many of the same elements from Stranger Things are present in Montauk. One unchanged aspect of the show was the other ten test subjects that underwent similar experiments to Eleven. The most significant differences in her character were the relationship she had with her mother and the part Terry played in Eleven's acquisition of supernatural abilities.
In the show, Project MKUltra used drugs like LSD during the testing process. In Montauk, MKUltra was not a part of Eleven's origin story all: instead, Eleven's mom was an addict who used psychedelics and other drugs while she was pregnant. These drugs affected Eleven's genetics to the point that she developed telekinetic abilities. When Eleven was born, Terry spent two years with her before the baby was taken away by government agents for experimentation.
Another major change to Eleven's story was the addition of Dr. Brenner. In Montauk, Eleven's caregiver, Agent One, served as a Brenner prototype. He would give Eleven special treatment due to her immense powers and was the only one with whom she had any social interaction. Giving Agent One the name "Dr. Martin Brenner" helped humanize the character. This change added depth to his connection with Eleven while simultaneously demonstrating his duplicitous nature toward her. Brenner's actions traumatized her deeply by experimenting on her and exposing her to the Upside Down.
From there, the similarities between Eleven in Montauk and Stranger Things increase. In Montauk, her time in the laboratory was the only memory she had, and she was mute and unaware of how to socialize with others. It wasn't until she met Mike and her friends that she began to learn more about herself. The Duffer Brothers described Eleven as the E.T. to Mike's Elliot, an analogy that illustrates how close their bond to one another was even in the show's earliest production stages.
The Duffer Brothers' changes to Stranger Things' story gave more depth and complexity to each character. Eleven's mother becoming just as much of a victim as her daughter added a more sympathetic aspect to their tragic story. These alterations from the initial concepts also allowed for a more emotional reunion when the two finally met in Season 2. Choosing to give the enigmatic Dr. Brenner more characterization served to highlight the depths of his callousness and cruelty while posing as Eleven's father figure.