A look into the background of Dr. Martin Brenner and the MK-Ultra project. Learn about Brenner’s obsession with harnessing children’s powers and his relationship with Eleven. Were his intentions noble? We may never know, but his actions in the ’60s were shocking and disturbing.
His obsession with harnessing children’s powers
The narrator of The Secret of Henry Creel mentions that Dr. Martin Brenner knew that Henry’s powers were exceptional. He took Henry into a facility after he murdered his mother and sister. After Henry’s escape from the facility, Brenner felt guilty because he was unable to look after him. But he didn’t stop there. He also continued to use punitive methods to punish children.
Children were used in experiments at Hawkins National Lab. Their names were removed and they were given tattoos of numbers on their forearms. One of the children, Eleven, was a test subject for one of the experiments. The result was a child with psychic abilities and the ability to access a monster-infested mirror dimension. Brenner is Eleven’s “Papa.”
His relationship with Eleven
Martin Brenner’s relationship with Eleven is an important part of the Stranger Things universe, and the showrunners have explained why. Eleven was the only person Brenner cared about, and he rewarded her for good behavior and punished her for bad behavior. His only concern was with Eleven’s power, and he was proud of Eleven’s success in the past.
Henry was Eleven’s older brother. Henry had exceptional powers and Brenner took him into a mental facility when he killed his mother and sister. Henry had to stay in the facility for years. He was later released, but his father was sent to Pennhurst. In 1979, Henry Creel was thrown into the Upside Down, and Brenner felt guilty about not being able to protect Henry. Despite the guilt, Brenner didn’t stop with Vecna’s crimes.
His father
The character of Dr. Brenner is fictional in the TV series “Scrubs”, but the real-life man was Jim Hooper. Although he is not the father of Eleven, he is the biological father of Virginia and Henry Creel. Born in 1947, Henry showed early signs of telekinetic powers as he grew up. His mother, Terry Ives, eventually moved to Hawkins, Indiana, where the Brenners had a government laboratory. Eleven spent his human life at the lab.
As a scientist for the US Department of Energy, Brenner had an interest in experimental weapons. He was the director of the Hawkins National Laboratory and played a significant role in controversial experiments, including Project MKUltra. Eventually, Brenner was approached by a woman who was concerned about her son. He convinced the government’s higher-ups to let him take the boy into custody.
