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'Saturday Night Live' taps genre favorites Michael B. Jordan & Aubrey Plaza as first hosts of 2023
Funny story: Both actors have ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Saturday Night Live is getting off to a Marvel-ously funny start for the new year, locking in a pair of first-time hosts who bring both current and future Marvel Cinematic Universe bona fides as the show gets set to pick up its 48th season later this month with new live broadcasts returning to NBC and Peacock.
Aubrey Plaza will go live from New York on Jan. 21 for SNL’s inaugural comedy act of 2023, marking her first-ever guest hosting gig on the long-running NBC sketch series. She’ll be followed a week later by fellow SNL first-timer Michael B. Jordan, also placing himself at the mirthful mercy of the show’s comedically demented writing team as the Jan. 28. guest host.
Jordan’s MCU ties are well known by now, having starred in both Black Panther films as well as a 2021 Disney+ episode of Marvel’s What If…? Disney+ is also the place where Plaza will officially make her MCU screen debut, starring alongside Kathryn Hahn in the witchy upcoming WandaVision spinoff Agatha: Coven of Chaos. The nine-episode series is just the latest in a lengthy string of genre roles for the Parks and Recreation alum, with Plaza having previously starred in 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and, in a pre-MCU Marvel role, in FX’s X-Men spinoff Legion back in 2017.
Both Plaza and Jordan have big current and upcoming projects propelling them into 2023: Plaza comes toting a Golden Globe nomination for her just-concluded turn in Season 2 of HBO’s The White Lotus, while also starring in Emily the Criminal at Netflix.
Jordan, meanwhile, has the wind at his back after reprising his role as Erik “Killmonger” Stevens in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, plus a big directing debut arriving March 3 with the third installment in the Creed movie franchise (in which Jordan also stars). He also notched an Emmy nod for his 2018 turn in HBO’s movie adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s cautionary dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451.
Joining Plaza as the Jan. 21 musical guest will be Sam Smith (in his third SNL appearance), while Jordan shares the stage on Jan. 28 with fellow SNL first-timer Lil Baby. Catch ‘em all live later this month when Saturday Night Live kicks off the back half of Season 48 on both NBC and Peacock.
