🚨 “WOKE STRANGER THINGS STANS EXPLODE IN RAGE OVER SNL’S SAVAGE ROAST OF WILL’S GAY SCENE & CONFORMITY GATE!” 😱😂🔥

Finn Wolfhard hosts SNL, drops brutal parody imagining spin-offs… then MOCKS the endless coming-out monologue & that “secret Episode 9” conspiracy! Fans SCREAM “HOMOPHOBIC!” – but it’s just poking fun at the LENGTH & fan meltdowns!

Conformity Gate DEAD, queer scene dragged… Woke mob CANCELING the cast?? You WON’T believe the triggered tweets… 👇

Saturday Night Live kicked off 2026 with a bang – and a backlash – as first-time host Finn Wolfhard, star of Netflix’s Stranger Things, teamed up with co-stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin for a pre-recorded sketch that parodied the hit series’ finale controversies. The bit, imagining absurd spin-off ideas while directly jabbing at fan theories and a infamous coming-out monologue, has divided the internet, with some hailing it as sharp satire and others branding it “homophobic” and “tasteless.”

The sketch, aired during the January 17 episode, opens with a voiceover teasing potential Stranger Things sequels: shows focused on Steve Harrington’s haircare empire, Nancy Wheeler’s journalism career, and more. But the real zingers hit when it addressed “Conformity Gate” – the viral fan conspiracy that the Season 5 finale was a Vecna-induced illusion, with a secret ninth episode incoming to deliver a “better” ending free of “conformist” resolutions like marriages and straight relationships.

Wolfhard (as Mike Wheeler), Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), and McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair) trek to Iceland in search of Eleven, echoing the theory that she survived. The punchline? They confront Vecna, only to realize the “conformity” was real all along. But the hottest fire came from a throwaway line: Explaining why Will Byers (played by Noah Schnapp) gets no spin-off, the narrator quips, “It’s because his coming-out scene is still going on.”

That references Season 5’s extended monologue where Will tearfully reveals his sexuality to friends and family – a five-minute emotional peak praised by some as heartfelt but criticized by others as overly drawn-out and “cringe.” The SNL jab implied the scene’s length made it unspinnable, not the gay content itself.

Online, reactions exploded. X posts from fans like @SThingsMeme racked up thousands of likes sharing headlines: “Finn, Gaten, and Caleb are facing backlash after SNL sketch pokes fun at Will Byers’ coming out scene.” Detractors accused the bit of mocking queer representation, with one viral tweet calling it “cruel and dehumanizing” to a gay character’s vulnerability. TikTok and Reddit threads echoed the fury, tying it to years of alleged queerbaiting in the show and Schnapp’s absence from the episode (reason unknown).

YouTube channels piled on from the other side: Titles like “Woke Stranger Things Fans MELTDOWN Over SNL Skit MOCKING Gay Scene And Conformity Gate” and “SNL ROASTS Stranger Things ‘Gay’ Scene” amassed tens of thousands of views, celebrating the roast as overdue pushback against “woke” fan demands. Clownfish TV and Geeks + Gamers framed it as “predictable activist backlash,” while That Park Place called the meltdowns “online weirdos” triggered by parody.

The Duffer Brothers, series creators, attended the taping – no public comment yet, but their presence fueled speculation they approved the digs. Wolfhard’s monologue avoided direct controversy but featured his co-stars crashing for nostalgia, drawing cheers from live audiences.

Stranger Things Season 5 wrapped in December 2025 amid polarized reviews: High praise for spectacle, but gripes over “rushed” arcs, “conformist” happy endings (marriages, kids), and Will’s scene splitting fans – sweet for some, hokey for others. “Conformity Gate” trended wildly post-finale, with petitions and subreddits dedicated to proving a hidden episode. Netflix and the Duffers repeatedly denied it, but the theory lingered until SNL buried it.

Broader episode jokes drew fire too: A “Sex and the City” parody with Stranger Things vibes included “disgusting” lines about Lucas and Max’s intimacy, slammed as misogynistic. Wolfhard faced separate heat for monologue bits comparing female anatomy to Demogorgons.

Defenders argue SNL’s DNA is equal-opportunity roasting – long scenes, fan conspiracies, spin-off greed all fair game. “People thought it was poking fun at the fact that Will was gay, not how long the scene itself was,” one Redditor noted, dismissing outrage as misreading. Others called the backlash overblown: “A society that can’t laugh at itself gets pretty dull.”

Noah Schnapp, absent from SNL, has been vocal about Will’s arc – no response to the parody yet. The cast’s involvement (Wolfhard hosting, others guesting) suggests internal buy-in, but fans unhappy with the finale heckled the Duffers post-show.

As Stranger Things eyes spin-offs (stage play confirmed, animated series rumored), the sketch spotlights fandom fractures: Celebration of closure vs. demands for revisionism. Viewership for the episode spiked, proving controversy sells – but at what cost to queer rep debates?

For now, “Conformity Gate” is canonically dead, Will’s scene eternally “ongoing,” and SNL unapologetic. Fans await if Netflix addresses the uproar – or lets the Upside Down drama fade.