Saturday Night Live returned with its first new episode of the year, and it entered the 2026 TV schedule with a bang. The comedy series welcomed Finn Wolfhard as host along with ASAP Rocky as musical guest. Unsurprisingly, given Wolfhard’s presence, the show found a way to lampoon Stranger Things, which aired its series finale weeks ago. The segment specifically played on the possibility of spinoffs and, in the process, it also conveyed an idea that a number of fans were probably thinking about Will’s coming out scene.
Finn Wolfhard’s SNL sketch humorously featured a number of potential spinoff ideas for Stranger Things. Among the concepts were a series involving Steve Harrington becoming an inner city teacher (à la Dangerous Minds) and Nancy Wheeler going to great lengths as an investigative journalist. Wolfhard’s Mike was also made the center of a show called Mike in Manhattan, which followed his adventures as a writer living in ‘90s New York. Check out the sketch, which includes some special guests:
The notion of a Sex and the City-style spinoff featuring Mike Wheeler is just too funny to me. On top of that, I love that Wolfhard’s co-stars, Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo (who also appear during Wolfhard’s monologue) are in the sketch as well. Of course, what’s notable about the segment is that their other male friend, Will Byers, isn’t with them. Well, as stated, the reason Will (played by Jeremy Culhane in this case) isn’t with the group is because he’s still in the midst of his coming out scene.
During Stranger Things’ final season, Will Byers finally gained the courage to come out to his friends and family and was warmly accepted. On the whole, the scene is very sentimental and only builds on the big arc Will has during Season 5. However, I can definitely understand the joke SNL is making, as a part of me felt the original scene ran a bit long. As an extension of that, the core element the sketch seems to be poking fun at is the dialogue for the OG scene, which is arguably longer and more drawn out than necessary.
The Will Byers portion of the sketch aside, the general idea of Stranger Things spinoffs coming down the pipeline is totally valid at this point. Fans shouldn’t expect to see the ones that were humorously pitched by Saturday Night Live, but it’s known that the animated spinoff series, Tales from ‘85 – is set to debut this year. A live-action offshoot is in the works as well and, while series creators Matt and Ross Duffer have exited Netflix, they’re still going to be involved with the show.
If anything, Wolfhard’s sketch was simply a way to poke fun at the notion of the franchise expanding, and the over-the-top critiques shine through. The points about Will’s scene is also valid, though I won’t chastise that too hard, especially given how much it might mean to some viewers. Overall, though, kudos to Wolfhard and co. for finding a way to poke fun at the very show that served as his career breakthrough.
Check out Finn Wolfhard’s episode of Saturday Night Live by streaming it with a Peacock subscription. Also, Netflix subscription holders can stream Stranger Things in its entirety now.
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