Finn Wolfhard's 'Stranger Things' SNL Skit Met With Backlash From Fans

Stranger Thingsstar Finn Wolfhard, who played major character Mike Wheeler on the nearly 10-year-long show, hosted Saturday Night Live, and while many fans applauded his performance, parts of Wolfhard’s monologue and a Stranger Things-themed skit have also led to backlash, particularly on social media.

There’s little doubt that Stranger Things is one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time, although the final season, Season 5, saw a significant drop in public reception. In particular, Season 5 Volume 2 and the series finale sparked outrage within the fanbase, which led to fan theories like Conformity Gate—the idea that episodes 5 through 8 had all been an illusion and a ‘real’ finale was coming.

Wolfhard’s appearance on SNL, along with surprise appearances from Stranger Things costars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin, comes on the heels of that controversy and ongoing grievances from some within the Stranger Things fanbase. Now, it seems certain skits from the episode, as well as Wolfhard’s monologue, have only angered some fans even more.

The specific moments that fans are calling out in TikTok videos and in the comments of some of Wolfhard’s Instagram posts include the clip mocking Will Byers’ coming out scene in Season 5, specifically with jokes made about the length of the scene, and a joke about Lucas Sinclair and Max Mayfield’s relationship. Wolfhard’s joke about female anatomy being similar to a Demogorgon has also caused outrage.

@3rdduffer

finn’s ig comments rn are brutal #strangerthings #strangerthings5 #finnwolfhard #gatenmatarazzo #greenscreen

♬ Stranger Things – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein

@halinascloset

👎🏼replace your writers atp #snl #snlsketch #strangerthings #maxmayfield #saturdaynightlive

♬ original sound – Halina

@siniclistt

impact over intent #strangerthings #willbyers #snl #finnwolfhard #fyp

♬ original sound – Dancing Earl

@ilovetacobell562

cause it is this serious #fypシ #snl #finnwolfhard #strangerthings #trending

♬ sonido original – Yael☆

It’s worth noting that Wolfhard was not the one to poke fun at Will’s coming out scene, nor was he the one to make the joke about Max lying in a coma, yet anger seems to be directed at him because he was the host. In fact, while there are several TikTok videos of fans expressing anger, Instagram comments on Wolfhard’s account are considerably more scathing.

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Beneath Wolfhard’s post, one commenter wrote, “kind of weird of u to make fun of your friends scene that gave him a panic attack irl but okay..!” Another wrote, “The demogorgons are not the women’s bodies, but you, the SNL producer, and every single actor involved. Misogynistic garbage. Yall hate women so much. Disgusting.”

There are thousands of comments under the post, many of which echo these sentiments, and some of which are simply tomato emojis. At present, Matarazzo and McLaughlin do not seem to be experiencing the same degree of backlash, although Matarazzo’s post from the episode does have comments like, “Not the Will/Noah mocking…that was really uncalled for” and “max coma joke and coming out joke was unnecessary and uncalled for but whatever!”

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All three actors have also been praised for their SNL appearances across social media platforms, so reactions to the episode have been mixed. Nevertheless, it’s clear that certain jokes ruffled feathers, making an already divided fanbase even more torn.