The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda Threatens to Kill Marvel's Baby Groot on Saturday Night Live

Baby Yoda is back on Saturday Night Live and he's holding a grudge against Marvel's Baby Groot of [...]

By Adam Barnhardt

Baby Yoda is back on Saturday Night Live and he's holding a grudge against Marvel's Baby Groot of the Guardians of the Galaxy. After debuting in The Mandalorian on Disney+ last year, Baby Yoda -- as played by Kyle Mooney -- appeared on SNL during the Weekend Update segment. He returned again this week in the same portion of the show. Baby Yoday spoke with Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che, revealing his line of cannabis-infused products before turning and his attention to Baby Groot, threatening to kill the tree-like alien of the Marvel Cinematic Universe if he keeps Yoda's his name.

Much like the same sketch last year, Baby Yoda's cameo then ends with him threatening the very life of Baby Groot as Disney's battle for the cutest character continues on.

Arguably the most-guarded secret in the history of the Star Wars franchise, Disney risked billions in initial consumer product revenue by shielding the existence of Baby Yoda until the show's first episode reached the airwaves. According to The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, the team was inspired by George Lucas to keep the character a secret so fans knew nothing about him leading into the show.

"I love watching this medium — it's chaptered. So it's like a good book where each week you're getting to read another chapter of it. I think that the interplay between unfolding story points and twists and turns are important," Favreau said during the season two premiere of The Mandalorian. "George drew from the cliffhanger. That's what he grew up with. A cliffhanger doesn't always have to be an action cliffhanger. It could be a character cliffhanger, an emotional cliffhanger, and that's what creates that compelling relationship that I, as an audience member, appreciate the most."

He added, "Because the fans are very engaged and they're curious, and because of the internet and social media, everybody's talking to one another. And so there's this really interesting relationship where you really want to know what you're getting for Christmas, but you don't really want to know."

Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. Eastern.

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