Jimmy Kimmel Jokes That Spider-Man, Aquaman, and Catwoman Were In Oscars Audience But Didn't Help Chris Rock

The 2022 Oscars' now-infamous "Slap Heard 'Round The World" moment between Will Smith and Chris Rock has officially become fodder for the late-night TV show circuit. While doing the monologue for his own show, Jimmy Kimmel dropped some observational humor about how, even with some of the biggest movie superheroes in the world seated just feet away, poor Chris Rock still couldn't get a save from Will Smith (who also happens to play the villain Deadshot in DC's Suicide Squad). 

Kimmel was doing the obligatory monologue about the moment of controversy during the 2022 Academy Awards, and decided to look at one of the only silver linings of the ugly moment: how Chris Rock went on with the show like a true pro: 

"Chris said something like 'Oh well, that was the greatest moment in the history of television,' and then went right into Best Documentary as if he hadn't just been slapped by the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," Kimmel joked.

That's when the joking got turned on all the superhero actors sitting in the audience: 

"By the way no one did anything," Kimmel continued. "A whole room full of people; no on lifted a finger. Spider-Man was there. Aquaman was there. Catwoman. All sitting on their hands; no one helped Chris Rock."

Kimmel was of course poking fun at actors like Tom Holland (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), and Zoe Kravitz (The Batman), who were all in attendance that night.

To be fair though, at this point Hollywood has become so saturated with the superhero genre that pretty much half of that Oscars room had some kind of training that they could've called upon to get up there and stop Will Smith in time to save Chris –  or even defuse the entire situation before any violence went down. Maybe that's why there's a nice bit of bite to the subtext of Kimmel's joke: In a time of real crisis, a group of people who pretend to be superheroes for a living weren't all that useful.  

But then, that's Hollywood, isn't it? Turning people who wouldn't step into a real-life physical confrontation into icons of heroism and bravery. It's a shame that Ryan Gosling didn't have a film in the running at the Oscars this year: based on his heroic exploits of the past, we're fairly sure he would've done something. Ditto for Chris Evans. Get them front row seats next year!