“Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard made his “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut on Saturday, Jan. 17, and he poked fun at the Netflix show during the episode.
A sketch titled “Stranger Things promo” advertised several spinoff series following the show’s various characters. Wolfhard’s former costars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin made cameos. The skit referenced the since-debunked “Stranger Things” fan theory that an additional secret episode would drop after the series finale.
“Remember that mysterious ninth episode the internet was convinced existed? It didn’t, but it does now! And we got almost all the main kids back,” voiceover in the sketch declared.
Wolfhard, Matarazzo and McLaughlin then reunited with Eleven, only she was played by 47-year-old “SNL” star Kenan Thompson instead of their 21-year-old cast mate Millie Bobby Brown.
The sketch also joked about the actors being much older than their characters by the time “Stranger Things” concluded.
“You think I don’t know what it’s like to be a teenager? I was 17 for 10 years,” Andrew Dismukes said while playing Steve Harrington in a spinoff where the character becomes a high school teacher.
Meanwhile, Finn Wolfhard’s character, Mike Wheeler gets a new show modeled after “Sex and the City.” As Mike, Dustin (Matarazzo) and Lucas (McLaughlin) caught up over Cosmos, Dustin hinted at “Stranger Things” completely abandoning his romantic story line with Suzie Bingham (Gabriella Pizzolo) after season 4.
“As you know, I briefly dated that weird nerdy girl who helped us save the world and then never talked to her again,” he quipped.
The sketch’s narrator also provided a reason for Will Byers’ (Noah Schnapp) absence from the Hawkins gang’s reunion.
“Before you get all mad and go, ‘How come Will isn’t in that,’ it’s because his coming out scene is still going on,” the voiceover joked. (“Stranger Things” fans have pointed out that Will’s coming out speech lasted longer than the final battle with Vecna.)
Elsewhere in the “SNL” episode, Wolfhard seemingly nodded to “Stranger Things” co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer. In a skit about the “Euphoria” writers’ room, the actor donned a wig and a fake beard that made him resemble the Duffer brothers.
READ MORE: ‘Stranger Things’ creators defend controversial finale decision
“Did Finn purposely pick this hair and beard to look like one of the Duffers?” one fan commented on an Instagram video of the sketch.
“Not the duffer beard,” another viewer chimed in.
While the Duffer brothers haven’t publicly reacted to Wolfhard’s “Saturday Night Live” appearance, the “Stranger Things” jokes seemed all in good fun. Wolfhard spoke about his strong bond with the show’s creators while giving a speech on the final day of filming.
“I started this show when I was 12 … and it’s gonna sound sad, but I really didn’t feel like I had a lot of friends as a kid. When I talked to the Duffers for the first time, it felt like I had friends,” he said in a video that circulated online.
“Saturday Night Live” is available to stream on Peacock, and “Stranger Things” is available to stream on Netflix.
