‘SNL’ recap: Finn Wolfhard’s ‘Stranger Things’ reunion, ‘Heated Rivalry’ spoof

Fresh off the finale of Netflix’s seemingly endless run of “Stranger Things,” one of its stars, Finn Wolfhard, did one of the rites of passage that child actors sometimes do on the road to adult roles: host “Saturday Night Live.”

If the appearance wasn’t exactly a blow-out comedic performance — Wolfhard seemed game throughout but awkward and too understated in some sketches — it was notable at least for starting what is likely to be a barrage of post-”Stranger Things” appearances and roles for its entire cast, something alluded to in a pre-taped sketch about all the potential spinoffs, sequels and side quests Netflix may have in store.

For his “SNL” debut (his appearance as a page in the “Saturday Night” feature film doesn’t count), Wolfhard got to podcast with the preteen “Snack Homiez” crew (including Sabrina Carpenter, who returned for the sketch), played an indie rock son rebelling against his pop star dad (James Austin Johnson), a well-fed space emperor in a wacky sci-fi sketch, and the boyfriend of a too-enthusiastic guys’ girl (Veronika Slowikowska) who fails to impress his friends.

But his appearance will probably best be remembered for a spot-on “Heated Rivalry” parody set in the “Harry Potter” world (more on that perfect storm of comedy in a bit).

Musical guest A$AP Rocky performed “Punk Rocky” with Danny Elfman on drums and “Don’t Be Dumb/Trip Baby.” Before the closing goodbyes, a title card honored Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, who died this week.

In 2026, James Austin Johnson’s impression of President Trump is still a rambling marvel, but for the first cold open of the year, the material felt like too much of a recap or retread of previous greatest hits. Marcello Hernández played a mostly-silent Marco Rubio who Trump berates for speaking Spanish. Tina Fey returned as Kristi Noem with some great zingers (“Do I have the situation under control? Noem, I do not.”), but it was almost a beat-for-beat repeat of the bit she did to better effect when Amy Poehler hosted. Colin Jost again played Pete Hegseth as an overly pumped bully. The only new element, apart from Trump looking out windows, was Jeremy Culhane‘s debut as vice president J.D. Vance. “I’m here to kick bubble gum and chew ass and I’m all out of bubble gum,” Vance said. The cold open concluded with Trump promising, “The midterms are canceled.” Which only serves to remind us that there’s likely to be a lot of Trump cold opens between now and November.

For his monologue, Wolfhard was joined by his “Stranger Things” co-stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin after showing a few jokey clips illustrating how much he grew up on the show, including going through puberty. Wolfhard tried to prove that he’s a full-grown 23-year-old man now, but he’s still got no real facial hair and doesn’t like alcohol (he spits some into Hernández’s face after congratulating him on his new stand-up comedy special). Wolfhard and his co-stars reaffirmed their friendship before he declared they are “child stars who are now ready to do adult films!”

Best sketch of the night: ‘Heated Wizardry’ is the sexy reboot we didn’t know we needed

Sometimes the best “SNL” sketch isn’t just the funniest, but the one that is perfectly timed, with exactly the right host for just the moment in the zeitgeist for it to hit the hardest. Such is the case with this “Harry Potter” parody timed to everyone’s current obsession with HBO Max’s “Heated Rivalry.” Here, Harry (Wolfhard) and Ron Weasley (Ben Marshall) become romantically entangled Quidditch teammates, but the teaser for the fake series promises that everyone is older than 18 and Hogwarts is now some sort of college. There’s pixelated nudity, grudging approval from Professor Snape (Johnson) and Jason Momoa as Hagrid, who says that like Neville, “You are one long bottom!” Oh, the terrible puns.

Also good: Do you not find these snacks pleasing, emperor?

There are those who will tell you that “Snack Homiez” is the funniest thing “SNL” has done in a long time; I am not one of those people. Instead, I found this goofy sketch about an enthusiastic “Snack Man” to an evil space emperor on a show called “Dark Orbit” to be much sillier and funnier, driven by Mikey Day’s always welcome attempts to push his fellow cast members or hosts into breaking character and laughing. This time, force feeding Wolfhard led to several cast members losing their cool.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Tamara owes you no explanation for the button collecting

Kam Patterson portrayed NFL legend Michael Irvin in a scattered segment about his devotion to the University of Miami, but it was Jane Wickline (who’s proven divisive among “SNL” fans) emerging as the week’s “Update” winner playing the mysterious woman, Tamara, behind the 365 buttons TikTok meme. As with the comments that inspired the meme, Wickline played Tamara as someone who refused to reveal why they’re collecting a button a day, sparring defensively with “Update” co-host Michael Che. At the end of the segment, she revealed she has a solution to the crisis in Venezuela, but won’t reveal that solution. “I just have to go there and understand how to want to know,” Tamara said.