Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo spoke with Deadline about Dustin's grief journey in Season 5 and more from the finale

The epilogue seen in Stranger Things' series finale features the perfect speech from Dustin Henderson, acting as a wonderful Eddie Munson tribute.

We're talking about the Hawkins High School graduation speech made by Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), who took over the ceremony with a rousing tirade against the system that had his fellow students cheering and Principal Higgins (Bill Winkler) scrambling for the mic.

In an exclusive interview with Cosmopolitan, the actor reflects on playing a darker version of Dustin and letting the last 10 years of his career come to an end.

Gaten Matarazzo, who plays fan-favorite Dustin Henderson, said he was "taken aback" by how much he realized the "Stranger Things" finale made sense.

Dead By Daylight Eleven and Dustin Henderson Survivor perks for Stranger Things Chapter 2 with the PTB available to play now.

For years now, there have been theories that Steve could die, and as Season 5 has aired on the 2025 TV schedule, they’ve persisted. Plus, in the latest batch of episodes, his emotional reconciliation with Dustin, and their proclamation of “you die, I die” have certainly upped the emotional stakes of a loss like this.

As you likely know by now, “Stranger Things” wrapped everything up with a nice little bow fit for the most popular family programming on streaming. However, the internet has pointed out that two details in the epilogue don’t really make sense.

So far, there have been no major character deaths on Stranger Things 5. But now, Stranger Things 5, Volume 2’s trailer is here, and our anxiety is HIGH. And it’s HIGH because even though we’ve been worried for a while that Steve Harrington might meet ...

Stranger Things 5 already brought back one character we thought we'd never see again, but outside that one surprise, we didn't see any other returning character

Stranger Things shows that telekinetic powers are nothing compared to steadfast friendship. The show collects iconic duos like Vecna collects children, from Steve Harrington and Dustin Henderson’s protective camaraderie to Eleven and Max Mayfield’s tender solidarity,