Brenda Maze Runner: Who She Is and Who Plays Her
Brenda in Maze Runner is a local Thomas meets in the desert, played by Rosa Salazar, who first appears in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and returns in Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018). She does not appear in The Maze Runner (2014), so she is a character of the second and third films only.
Who Plays Brenda?
Who Is Brenda in Maze Runner?
Brenda is one of two locals the Gladers meet in the Scorch, the burned and ruined desert they enter after fleeing the WCKD facility in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), directed by Wes Ball. She is credited simply as Brenda, and the credits give her no other name or alias. Rosa Salazar plays her, billed seventh in The Scorch Trials and sixth in Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018).
She travels alongside Jorge, played by Giancarlo Esposito, and the pair join Thomas and his friends on the road toward the mountains. That makes her an outsider to the Glade. The boys of the first film lost their pasts and lived inside walls, while Brenda belongs to the wasteland. Her arrival widens the cast beyond the Gladers and moves the story out of the maze and into open country.
If you want the actor behind the role, the answer is Rosa Salazar in both films. For the full ensemble, see the maze runner cast page, and for the wider list of players, the maze runner characters index.
Brenda Films
What Happens to Brenda in The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure?Spoilers
Brenda's story begins in the desert crossing of maze runner the scorch trials. The Gladers have escaped Janson's facility after Thomas discovers that it belongs to WCKD and that Ava Paige is alive. On the way through the Scorch the group loses Winston to the infection, and it is at this stage that they meet Brenda and Jorge and continue with them toward the mountains.
The journey ends at the Right Arm, a resistance group. Teresa secretly passes the camp's location to WCKD, and WCKD attacks, capturing several Immunes, including Minho, Aris and Sonya. Mary Cooper is killed in the raid. Thomas vows to kill Paige and get his friends back, which sets up the third film.
In maze runner the death cure, Rosa Salazar returns as Brenda, billed sixth. The film runs 143 minutes and follows Thomas, Newt and Frypan as they travel to the Last City to rescue Minho, who is held as part of WCKD's search for a Flare cure. Gally helps them inside, Lawrence leads a rebel assault, and Newt is infected with the Flare.
Brenda's Relationships: Thomas, Jorge and Teresa
Brenda's clearest connection is with Jorge, the other local the Gladers meet in the Scorch. The two are introduced together and travel on with the group toward the mountains. See jorge maze runner for his side of that pairing.
Brenda meets Thomas and the Gladers in the desert and continues with them toward the mountains and the Right Arm. Thomas maze runner is the lead of the trilogy, and the group meets Brenda after the loss of Winston and before the raid on the camp.
Teresa stands in a very different position. Teresa maze runner arrives in the lift in the first film, passes the Right Arm's location to WCKD in the second, and dies in the third after removing Thomas's blood so a cure can be made. Brenda, by contrast, is a local met in the Scorch rather than one of the Gladers from the maze.
Does Brenda Die in Maze Runner?Spoilers
Brenda is not among the characters who die in the plot summaries of the trilogy, and those summaries do not say how her story ends. They do record the deaths of Chuck, Gally, Winston, Mary Cooper, Lawrence, Ava Paige, Janson, Newt and Teresa.
The Death Cure ends with the survivors escaping the collapsing WCKD headquarters by Berg after the cure has been taken from Thomas's blood. They reach a safe island where they can start rebuilding, and Thomas finds a note in Newt's pendant asking him to look after everyone. Rosa Salazar is billed sixth in the film, yet Brenda is not named in those closing scenes.
As for the future, 20th Century Studios is developing a reboot described as a continuation of the original trilogy, according to TheWrap (May 2024). No cast has been reported, so whether Rosa Salazar or any returning actor appears is unconfirmed. See the new maze runner movie page for the current status.
Brenda's Best Moments, in My Opinion
In my opinion, Brenda's strongest contribution is what she does for the structure of the second film. The Maze Runner (2014) is closed in: walls, a lift and a handful of boys. The Scorch Trials opens that world up, and the moment Brenda and Jorge join the Gladers is where the story stops feeling like an escape and starts feeling like a journey through a wider, damaged country.
I would also single out the change of company. Thomas has just learned that the facility sheltering him belongs to WCKD, so traveling with two locals from the Scorch makes a useful contrast with the Gladers. It could be argued that her place in the ensemble is closer to a companion than a lead, and the plot gives her less room than Teresa or Newt. That being said, the desert crossing benefits from a character who is not a Glader.
If you are deciding where to start, begin with maze runner movies in order so that her entrance lands after the first film's escape, and then continue to the maze runner 2014 if you have not seen it yet.
Facts
- Rosa Salazar plays Brenda in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), billed seventh. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Rosa Salazar plays Brenda in Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), billed sixth. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials was released in the US on September 18, 2015. Box Office Mojo, checked 2026-11-03
- Maze Runner: The Death Cure was released in the US on January 26, 2018. Box Office Mojo, checked 2026-11-03
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials runs 131 minutes. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Maze Runner: The Death Cure runs 143 minutes. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Wes Ball directed Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Wes Ball directed Maze Runner: The Death Cure. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials had a budget of $61 million and grossed $312,296,056 worldwide. Box Office Mojo, checked 2026-11-03
- Maze Runner: The Death Cure grossed $288,175,335 worldwide on a $62 million budget. Box Office Mojo, checked 2026-11-03
- 20th Century Studios is developing a reboot described as a continuation of the original Maze Runner trilogy, with no release date given. TheWrap, checked 2026-11-03
FAQs
Did Thomas fall in love with Brenda?
The plot summaries of the films describe no romance between Thomas and Brenda. They present her as a local who meets Thomas and the Gladers in the Scorch and travels on with them toward the mountains.
Does Thomas love Brenda or Teresa?
The plot summaries do not describe Thomas's feelings for either character. Teresa arrives in the lift in the first film, passes the Right Arm's location to WCKD in The Scorch Trials, and dies in The Death Cure after removing Thomas's blood to make the cure. Brenda is a local who joins the group in the desert.
What happens to Brenda in Maze Runner?
Brenda meets Thomas and the Gladers in the Scorch in The Scorch Trials, travels on with them and Jorge toward the mountains, and returns in The Death Cure. The plot summaries of the trilogy do not say how her story ends.
Who plays Brenda in Maze Runner?
Rosa Salazar plays Brenda in both Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018). She is billed seventh in the first of those films and sixth in the second.
Which Maze Runner films is Brenda in?
Brenda appears in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018). She is not in The Maze Runner (2014).
Will Brenda be in the new Maze Runner movie?
No cast has been reported for the new film. As of 3 November 2026, 20th Century Studios is developing a reboot described as a continuation of the original trilogy, with Jack Paglen reported to be in talks to write and Wes Ball attached as producer. No release date has been given.