Stranger Things fan theories about a secret bonus episode have been shut down once again in a Saturday Night Live sketch that roasted the outlandish conspiracies.
The first SNL episode of 2026 was led by debut host Finn Wolfhard, who played Mike Wheeler for nine years in the hit Netflix show. His co-stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin surprised the audience during the actor’s monologue and returned later in the show during a pre-recorded sketch that poked fun at theories about Stranger Things continuing after its series finale.
“Stranger Things is back with sequels, prequels, requels, and spin-offs,” a voiceover said in the sketch’s parody Netflix ad before playing faux trailers for spin-offs, including a series called Strangerous Minds about Steve Harrington continuing his teaching career, a show calledThe Wheeler Report about Nancy Wheeler as an investigative journalist, and a Sex and the City spoof starring Wolfhard’s Mike Wheeler as a writer in New York City.
The voiceover continued, “Remember that mysterious ninth episode the internet was convinced existed? It didn't, but it does now!” Wolfhard, McLaughlin and Matarazzo were then shown resuming their Stranger Things roles as Wolfhard declared the show’s villain, Vecna, was “still out there,” before greeting Eleven, played in the sketch by Kenan Thompson.
However, after the sketch aired, some fans took issue with one of its jokes about an unpopularStranger Things scene in which Will Byers, one of the show’s main characters who is played by Noah Schnapp, came out to his friends as gay.
“And 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 about the five-minute monologue featured in episode seven — but fans slammed the bit as being in poor taste.
“It's unnecessary to make fun of Will's scene, even if the dialogue was bad,” one SNL critic slammed on Instagram, with another agreeing, “That will joke was so unnecessary.”
A third wrote: “How disrespectful to make fun of wills coming out scene, that was ridiculous.”
Other fans defended SNL, with one explaining, “They are making fun of how long that Will scene was and how was written, not that he was gay. SNL is not a teen show and has mature jokes, you shouldn’t watch if you don’t like dark comedy.”
Another chimed in, “Yall complaining about the jokes, it’s SNL. Yall need to relax.”
Strangers Things’ series divisive finale aired December 31 and sparked criticism for its lackluster ending. In response, disappointed fans of the show began to spread a rumor that another episode would be released as the real ending.
However, there is no proof that the secret episode exists, and Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower appeared to shut the theory down by saying that the last episode was “the ending the show deserves.”
