Dustin Henderson

Dustin is the group's chattering strategist, a middle-schooler with a gap-toothed grin and a curly mop who talks his way past bullies, monsters, and grown-ups alike. He's loyal to his friends and his convictions, whether that means defending a stray creature he's adopted or refusing to abandon a plan everyone else thinks is crazy.

Matarazzo plays him with such unforced warmth that Dustin's motormouth optimism never curdles into comic relief filler; he's the one who insists on kindness toward the monstrous and reason amid panic. The character's cleidocranial dysplasia is folded into the writing without fuss, making him feel lived-in rather than written as a type.