Saturday Night Live: Michael B. Jordan Channels Creed in Violent New Promo

Ahead of the new episode this weekend, Saturday Night Live has debuted the first promo for Marvel Studios star Michael B. Jordan teasing his time as host for the show. In the brief promo, Jordan is quick to show off his Creed skills in brief boxing bout where he lays into none other than new series star Michael Longfellow. Check out the video, where Jordan jokes he was hired for his looks, not his talent, below. Despite notable appearances in many blockbusters, this will mark not only Jordan’s first time hosting Saturday Night Live but his first time ever on the show. He’ll appear alongside musical guest Lil Baby.

Jordan helped revive the Rocky franchsie with 2015’s Creed, directed by his Black Panther collaborator Ryan Coogler. The film was a major success, spawning a sequel in 2018 and with a third film on the way. Not only does Jordan return for the upcoming Creed III but he also stepped behind the camera and made it his first feature film as a director. 

“I was pretty anxious going into it, wondering what that would be like,” Jordan previously shared with Empire. “‘Who’s calling action and cut? Is that me?!’…Talking with Denzel (Washington) and Bradley Cooper and others who have directed themselves, they told me you have to find your groove and your pace with your first AD and actors … But it’s also like having a superpower: within your performance, you can also direct. It saves some time in some areas, because you get a chance to self-correct in the moment. So that’s a liberating experience to have. It became fun after a while.”  

Considering Jordan’s place in pop culture, not only as Adonis Creed but as a staple character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Killmonger, it won’t be out of the realm of possibility for there to be some kind of sketch this weekend referencing one, or both, of those roles. 

A major trend for SNL this season has been hosts making light of their famous roles, or even reprising them in a major way. Elvis star Austin Butler starred in an Elvis-themed sketch during his episode, Dave Chappelle reprised multiple characters from his hit , Steve Martin & Martin Short reprised their Father of the Bride characters, and Aubrey Plaza appeared as her Parks and Recreation character April Ludgate. In short, it’s probably going to happen this weekend too.