Michael B. Jordan channels 'Black Panther' & 'Creed' muscle memory in punchy 'SNL' promo

Note to self: Never creep up on Michael B. Jordan in Studio 8H...or anywhere else, for that matter. The actor shows off the immaculate fighting skills he picked up on Black Panther and the Creed films in the latest promo for his debut as host of Saturday Night Live (this week's musical guest is Lil Baby). 

In the video below, cast member Michael Longfellow finds out the hard way what happens to a person who tests the lighting-fast muscle memory of Adonis Creed. "Got decked by the champ," Longfellow wrote on Instagram to caption the vid. 

Jordan will reprise the cinematic boxing heavyweight for the upcoming Creed III, which also marks his directorial debut. Opening in theaters March 3, the trilogy capper co-stars another Marvel standout, Jonathan Majors (Kang the Conquerer in Loki and the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantiumania), who hosted his first episode of SNL in November 2021.

Check out the promo below:

Despite the fact that Erik Killmonger died at the end of 2018's Black Panther, Jordan was able to step back into the fan favorite role for a brief chat with Shuri (Letitia Wright, carrying on the mantle of the titular superhero from the late Chadwick Boseman) on the Ancestral Plane in the 2022 sequel, Wakanda Forever.

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"I had to lie to my family," Jordan told Extra TV with a big smile when asked about how he kept the comic book cameo a secret. "I had to to everybody out here. I had to just keep it under wraps. When you deal with Marvel and stuff like that, you kind of know the routine. So you've just got to deny, deny, deny until the end of it."

The emotional follow-up directed and co-written by the returning Ryan Coogler was nominated for five Oscars this week: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Angela Bassett), Best Costume Design (Ruth Carter), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Camille Friend and Joel Harlow), Best Original Song (Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler), and Best Visual Effects (Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White, and Dan Sudick).

Saturday Night Live airs on NBC every Saturday evening at 11:30 p.m. ET. Next week's episode is set to be hosted by another first-timer, Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us), who will be joined by musical guest Coldplay.

All 48 seasons of SNL are now streaming on Peacock.