Wolfhard Grows Up Live

Finn Wolfhard hit a career milestone with a playful, self-aware hosting debut on Saturday Night Live, leaning into the strange reality of growing up in the spotlight. The January 17 episode opened with a monologue that mixed coming-of-age humor with fan service, capped by a surprise reunion with his Stranger Things costars Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo.

Now 23, Wolfhard centered the bit on officially shedding the “child star” label, using visual gags and exaggerated rites of adulthood to make his point. Joined by McLaughlin and Matarazzo, the trio jokingly retired their former status, turning the moment into an affectionate—and deliberately over-the-top—send-off to their shared past.

Earlier in the monologue, Wolfhard reflected on the end of Stranger Things and the unusual experience of adolescence unfolding before a global audience. He noted that the series began when he was 12 and concluded after millions of viewers had watched him grow up in real time, a sentiment that set the tone for the night’s mix of nostalgia and satire.

The episode later revisited Hawkins in a pre-taped sketch styled after Sex and the City, reimagining Mike, Dustin, and Lucas as grown men reconnecting over gossip and questionable life choices in the 1990s. The parody escalated with the surprise appearance of Eleven—portrayed this time by Kenan Thompson rather than Millie Bobby Brown—underscoring the show’s comfort with poking fun at its own mythology.

Wolfhard’s hosting turn arrived just weeks after Netflix released the final episodes of Stranger Things on New Year’s Eve 2025. The series finale, “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up,” sparked immediate debate, particularly around Mike’s closing narration and whether it depicted reality or emotional escape. Among those weighing in was Sadie Sink, who offered her own interpretation during an early January appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: “I think Mike’s story is one last story.”

Charlie Heaton echoed the finale-as-coping view, while speculation around Netflix’s One Last Adventure was later downplayed by director Martina Radwan. SNL returns Jan. 24; Stranger Things now streams.