Finn Wolfhard 'SNL' episode mocks 'Stranger Things' finale conspiracies

There may not have been a secret bonus episode of "Stranger Things," but "Saturday Night Live" just had a field day with the conspiracy theories.

"Stranger Things" star Finn Wolfhard made his hosting debut in the first "SNL" episode of 2026, and he was joined by his costars Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo for a pre-recorded sketch that imagined possible spinoffs of the Netflix series.

The sketch took the form of a faux ad announcing a bunch of new "Stranger Things" shows, including a Steve Harrington series called "Strangerous Minds" and another about Nancy Wheeler titled "The Wheeler Report." Wolfhard himself also starred in a promo for a "Sex and the City"-style spinoff about Mike Wheeler and his writing career.

The sketch built up to the voiceover, declaring, "Remember that mysterious ninth episode the internet was convinced existed? It didn't, but it does now!" Wolfhard, McLaughlin and Matarazzo are shown as their "Stranger Things" characters arriving in Iceland, as Wolfhard's Mike declares, "Everything we thought happened was an illusion that was planted by Vecna. He's still out there!" The trio then reunite with Eleven, played by Kenan Thompson.

"Stranger Things" aired its series finale on Dec. 31, but some fans were unsatisfied with its ambiguous ending, so much so that they spread a baseless conspiracy theory that the last episode was not the real ending and that a secret bonus episode would be released. The theory suggested the actual ending of "Stranger Things" would be revealed as an illusion created by the series' main villain, Vecna, though no such episode existed.

McLaughlin and Matarazzo had surprise cameos in Wolfhard's opening monologue, entering to cheers after Wolfhard proclaimed that he's "not a kid anymore."

"Neither are we!" McLaughlin said. "We're not child stars, we're former child stars."

"And any time you read 'former child star' in a headline, it can only mean good things," Matarazzo said.

The actors also sarcastically thanked fans who watched them grow up on the show and, as McLaughlin put it, "then went online and commented about our changing faces and bodies." But Wolfhard struck a sincere tone as he told his costars that although "we're now men, you'll always be my boys."