While the Hawkins crew has faced many monsters in Stranger Things, their transition into the cynical world of adulthood might be the most terrifying evolution yet.

Finn Wolfhard took center stage during the January 17 episode of Saturday Night Live to host a nostalgic yet biting tribute to the franchise that launched his career. He was not alone on the stage, as familiar faces Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin joined him to explore an alternate future for their beloved characters. This unexpected crossover is facing backlash because of the jokes.

This satirical reunion suggests that even heroes of the Upside Down cannot escape the awkwardness of the 1990s or the bite of late-night comedy.

Finn Wolfhard portrayed an adult version of Mike Wheeler. The scene shown in Saturday Night Live parodied the aesthetic of iconic nineties dramas, featuring Mike typing away at a blog. He quipped that after dating a girl named Eleven, every other woman in the city felt like a disappointment.

The reunion shifted into darker territory when Dustin and Lucas arrived to discuss their personal lives over cocktails on Saturday Night Live. Mike pressed his friends for intimate details that felt different from the innocence of their childhood. The humor took a controversial turn when Caleb McLaughlin’s character made a remark about Max and her physical state.

Referencing her traumatic coma from the series Stranger Things, the joke suggested a lack of intimacy that many viewers found insensitive.

"Well, Max and I started off hot and heavy, right? Then, a couple of years in, she lies there like she's back in that coma”, Lucas, played by Caleb McLaughlin, told. This specific moment sparked immediate backlash from fans who felt the punchline crossed a line regarding the character's suffering.

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The dialogue continued to push boundaries by poking fun at the most emotional moments of the original series.

The Saturday Night Live sketch also aimed to develop the slow-burning Stranger Things character of Will Byers, who was noticeably absent from the restaurant table. A narrator informed the audience that Will could not attend because his pivotal coming-out scene was still in progress.

Jeremy Culhane stepped into the role of Will to deliver a performance defined by constant hesitation and clumsy wordplay. The character struggled to express his truth, using a series of puns that danced around the word gay without ever concluding.

"Guys, I'm gay-ning the courage to tell you the truth, and the truth is I'm gay-zing at all of your faces, and you should know that I like D.. and D - Dungeons and Dragons, just like you guys,” Jeremy Culhane said.

By reducing Will's identity to a clumsy play on words about Dungeons and Dragons, the writers missed the mark on meaningful satire. The segment ultimately felt more like a dismissal of the character's growth than a clever parody of the show.

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What was your reaction after watching the parody sketch of Stranger Things? Let us know in the comments below